Freedom: A gift or a right?
by SheWolf06
Summary: A young girl 'apparates' into Hogwarts and Dumbledore has great plans for using her 'abilities' in the war. Its up to Harry and the group to help her find friendship for the first time and Sirius Black forms a strange link to the girl.Can she let them in?
1. Bad Boys Are Irresistible?

Hello Everyone!

I had previously started this almost two years ago, but over the last few months found myself cringing at my sixteen year old self's writing, and couldn't stand it any longer!

You'll pick up the general gist of the story as you go along, but just to fill you in right now...

It's seventh year for Harry, Hermione and Ron. The Dept. of Mysteries fiasco hasn't happened, and the whole 'prophecy' hasn't been revealed yet. However, Voldemort has been discovered. If you could, imagine the atmosphere to be like that of 'The Half Blood Prince'...dark and scary!

Any question's, please don't be afraid to ask me!

* * *

_We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future – **Franklin D Roosevelt**_

It was Saturday the twelfth of September. A sweltering eighty seven degrees of Fahrenheit heat ruthlessly persisted in its vicious regime of scorching the Miami shoreline...each grain of coarse white sand at a burning second of time.

No less than five days earlier, the beginning of the school year arrived hand in hand with a heat wave that descended across the globe like a duvet made solely of UV rays. The weekend couldn't come earlier for adults, children and all those in between who were eager to escape educations clutches of boredom, and flee with wild abandon from anything remotely resembling a stifling classroom.

The general consensus that took effect was to get as close to infinitely wide open spaces as possible; hence why the people flocked to Miami Beach in their droves. For the most dedicated of escapees, even the shoreline posed no restriction- renting a boat was money well spent to revel in the isolated emptiness of the sea.

But for a small group of teenage girls, a secluded part in the far corner of the beach was perfect. It was far enough away from screaming children and overbearing parents, yet close enough to the testosterone fuelled football game taking place by the water. Religiously pouring oil on their already over tanned skin (sure to become wrinkled and leathery well before its time), the teen's provoked adults into pondering an age old question concerning all self absorbed seventeen year old girls.

If the human race suddenly transformed into living chocolate, would those girls eat themselves or the boys they started at possessively?

Regardless of the many attempts to solve the enigma that is the teenage mind, life on Miami Beach went on.

"Yeah Josh, over here I'm open!" Josh, the token jock among the group of performance enhancer addicted young men had the ball. Finding his friend was 'open', with feet too small for his oversized body Josh ran so fast he barely left footprints in the hard sand while propelling the ball forty yards down the shore.

On any other day, the ball would have flown right into the boys grasp that made the fatal 'teenage cringe' of getting frosted highlights he couldn't pull off, and the game would have resumed normally.

Alas, Saturday the twelfth of September was about to make its own off road route on the opposite side of the tracks to normal; at least, it was for anyone who came into contact with the five foot nine bronze limbed brunette who just appeared out of nowhere.

The exotic creature's name was Anna, and no matter what language you spoke, in the not so well known dangerous circles across the world it translated into one word- trouble.

"No you're not sweetie. But I am." She purred, grabbing the ball with cat like reflexes before 'frosted highlights' received a broken nose.

"There you go darlin'." She pushed the ball into the boy's chest and smiled mischievously up at him from underneath feather long eyelashes. "Maybe lay off the steroids for a while N'Sync; girls like the touch of muscles, not stone." With a smirk and a wink, she strutted her rather small arse up towards the pavement.

Anna was of course aware that the football game had come to a halt while the players watched her walk away. In her defence, the strut was actually a necessity- everyone knows walking in sand is exhausting at the best of times. Especially in this heat, when one was dressed for downtown Paris- not Miami Beach.

Instead of a dental floss bikini and flip-flops, Anna was clothed in a D&G leather biker jacket and skin tight jeans. She could already feel her t-shirt clinging to her skin- a white one no less, which would not win any wet t-shirt contests if the fluid happened to be her own perspiration.

_'Bloody Gloria Estefan!'_ she practically growled. Just as she was about to Jump from New York, some idiot decided to blast on their radio. Visions of Miami Beach parties instantly flashed through her mind, and before she smelt the salt air, she was cursing whatever Dj had yet to escape the 80's funk.

Anna wasn't halfway up the beach, before she felt the daggers slicing into her.

_'Ah, the predictability of high school girls.' _Add boys into the equation, and the majority of teenage girls will never fail to amaze you with their one track minds. Not that Anna was searching for any type of praise- far from it to be honest. When you have the ability to appear out of nowhere, one of your worst nightmares is accidentally ending up in a crowded area. People tend to run for crucifixes and pitchforks...and that's after the ear splitting screams.

Nevertheless, it wasn't everyday one witness's somebody appear out of thin air. If she wasn't met with awe or wonder or curiosity, then the least she could have asked for was a little bit of shock for fucks sake! But no; the leather skinned girls no longer sat there, minding their own business (or flaunting it for others to see, whatever). Their immediate reaction was to give her the fucking evil eye, because a group of boys were staring at her arse.

One of them even had the cheek to sneer at her when she walked past.

Luckily for her, Anna was feeling optimistic today, and decided not to bother saying anything. Instead, she merely concentrated, flicked her wrist and smiled when a bottle of tanning oil spilled all over the peroxide blonde, orange faced girl who made the throaty 'ugh' sound behind her back.

She was exiting the overcrowded sand pit when she felt bad for her initial judgement of the girls. After all, she'd be jealous too if she saw someone with next season's knee high Louboutins...the suede version.

Finally reaching the pavement, Anna's good mood was buoyed by stepping onto a stable surface. She decided to forget about cheesy Dj's, scorching weather and Schwarzenegger wannabe's. Not a particularly difficult task when you're suffering from a hangover.

Not two seconds later, and any inkling of her optimistic mood was decimated by the tell tale sounds of the banes of her existence hot on her heels.

"Not today!" She stomped her high heel childishly, clenched her fists and glared at the water, daring the vision that met her to be more than a mirage.

Unfortunately, at her exact arrival point, in the midst of a group of frozen young men, four armoured Paladins were trying (and failing) to disentangle themselves from the large limbs of said young men, who joined the Paladins on their delightful trip to taste roasted sand grains.

By the time the Paladins managed to find their way out of the maze of legs and arms, Anna was already gone, leaving nothing but a shimmering fragment of air in her wake. The portal that looked like a rippling window was slowly closing in on itself.

But not fast enough, as a group of entirely different teenagers would soon find out...

* * *

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, both students and teachers alike were attempting the same feat as those in Miami. They found themselves a great deal more restricted than those on the Eastern seaboard of America, but did the best with what they had.

Clustered in their groups inside courtyards, by the lakeside and across endless acres of grass, the occupants of Hogwarts Castle lounged under the heat of the burning mid day sun. Too exhausted to perform any sort of activity that was physically exerting, they simply lay there with their backs against the warm ground, willing their worries to evaporate away as easily as the beverage's they hadn't quite mastered placing cooling charms on.

In Scotland, the emphasis was placed on warming charms for a rainy day stew and mid winter hot chocolate.

Seventh year students had been back barely two weeks, and already found professors hanging the dreaded N.E.W.T's over they're heads. June was a long way away they assured each other, and so allowed themselves to bask guilt free in the heat of the U.K's Indian summer.

Besides, in this heat, even the most diligent of students would find it hard to work up the motivation for study. Save one, perhaps...

On the outskirts of these clustered groups, Hermione Granger sat, desperately trying to find the will to concentrate on the fifth of several dusty tomes she had rented from the library, not one week back.

She managed to convince herself that she didn't feel the ancient books leather melting onto the soft skin of her hands. She even persuaded herself that heat waves weren't forcing the words to blend together. She could not, however, ignore her boyfriends arguing any longer, and so gave up to join the rest of her peers in sprawling out on the dry grass.

If anything, the weather was fuelling Ronald Weasley in his heated argument with Seamus Finnegan about the outcome of this year's Quidditch League.

"Here Weasley calm down would ya! I get enough bother off McGonagall for settin' stuff on fire round here as it is. I don't wanna be the cause of you goin' up in flames and all!" Seamus' harmless insults against Ron's flaming hair sent a rippling laughter around the group. He threw the last droplets of water at Ron and left to refill the bottle.

Even laughter proved to be a strenuous activity for them all. Harry Potter, a.k.a The Chosen One, felt his stomach muscles cramping both at Seamus, and the look on Ron's face.

Falling back onto the grass again, he placed his hands behind his head and watched the light wisps of clouds float by. They were all too thin to make shapes from, and soon Harry found himself straying into deep thoughts- until he was sweetly interrupted.

"What are you thinking about?" Ginny smiled down at him, losing herself in her boyfriend's magnificent green eyes. She propped herself up on the grass beside him, staring down at him with a dreamy expression that matched his own.

"I was just thinking about how weird it's going to be this year, having Sirius around and Lupin back. It'll be great...but still weird." Harry learned quite early on in their relationship that it was almost impossible to lie to Ginny. Luckily for him though, omission of some truth was a lot easier.

In actual fact, Harry was worried for his Godfather.

Sirius was given a full pardon by the Ministry of Magic when Fudge was forced to acknowledge the fact that Voldemort was indeed back. But in the eyes of wizard society, Sirius was still the dangerous ex-convict bearing the title of 'the only wizard to ever escape Azkaban unaided'...something Sirius wasn't afraid to brag about either, overjoyed in the knowledge of getting one up on his deranged cousin Bellatrix.

People were slowly coming around to the idea that Sirius Black was an entirely different man than his prison photo painted him to be though. When parents demanded extra security for Hogwarts Castle in favour of pulling their children out of school, Dumbledore appealed for volunteers rather than relying solely on Ministry Officials. This of course had nothing to do with the fact that Dumbledore knew that many of these "Officials'" had questionable allegiances.

When people saw Sirius Black give up his newly acquired freedom to protect school children, public opinion started to change in his favour. People were even starting to praise Lupin, a known werewolf, for returning to a job that was widely rumoured to be cursed...by Voldemort himself, no less!

The general public of course didn't need to be privy to the information that most of the volunteers were members, or sympathisers, of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Speak of the devils." Hermione broke the silence and drew everyone's attention to Hogwarts' latest celebrities. To say the two former marauders drew attention was a drastic understatement; the pair of them were magnets for it.

It was to be expected of course. It wasn't every day that students were subjected to the view of an 'ex-convict' and a werewolf perusing Hogwarts grounds...until now. These days it was practically a daily occurrence to see Sirius strolling suavely through the castle, his barking laughter eclipsing the regular explosions and all other sounds of daily Hogwarts life. Lupin, utilising a lesson he had learned as a child, knew that it was difficult to keep laughter under wraps in Sirius' presence; but he did have a position to maintain and so tended not to bask in the limelight of Sirius' new found fame that the DADA teacher so often found himself caught in.

If Harry wasn't mistaken, he was actually quite sure that Sirius just winked at a group of giggling sixth years. His cocky grin was, of course, still intact- although Sirius preferred to refer to his smirk as arrogant. _'It sounds more...dashing.'_ Harry still wasn't quite sure how his godfather had managed to live that one down.

"There's something irresistible about bad boys, and you don't get much more bad ass than an ex-convict." Or so Harry had been informed by Ginny four days previous, when he started to get wind of the slightly unsettling comments about his godfather that were making their way through the female population of Hogwarts.

"Please tell me you don't share their opinion?" Harry groaned, remembering the incident that occurred last Thursday. A Hufflepuff fifth year actually approached him, desperately wondering if 'The Prophet were sure they had their story straight' and if 'Sirius Black really is falling for a Norwegian Veela's charm?'. Harry's hasty denial of the statement spread not only through the school, but into the media world like wildfire.

"Oh Merlin Harry please! Need I remind you that I spent an entire summer cooped up in that crypt with his royal highness whilst he was house bound? Besides, Sirius was forever ruined in my eyes after I found him asleep, nursing an empty bottle of vodka and drooling over leftover's on the kitchen table." Harry simply laughed at this. Ginny shook her head and shuddered. He could only assume it was from the memory of Molly's reaction to said drool more so than the sight itself.

"Alright children? Anything interesting happening in this neck of the woods then?" Sirius sauntered over to them, collapsing onto the grass with inexplicable elegance.

Harry recently noticed that Sirius' usual demeanour, which was normally brimming with confidence, was overflowing with tidal wave like proportions lately. He had a feeling it had something to do with all the female attention Sirius was getting...teenage girls weren't very discreet.

Harry didn't mind though; he knew Sirius was just rejoicing in the fact that Azkaban hadn't diminished his 'devilish charm'. And anyway, anything that made Sirius smile was a good thing in his books...his godfather deserved to have some happiness in his life, and had the right to enjoy it for as long as he could.

Apparently though, Sirius' life back at Hogwarts wasn't all sunshine and roses, even if it appeared so on the surface. The facade of 'protecting the castle' had worked for a few days; amongst Harry and everyone else, it was a widely accepted reason in relation to the other Order members being stationed at Hogwarts.

Before they returned to Hogwarts though, and after Sirius got his freedom, Harry noticed the man would spend the majority of his time in the Black family library, even though he claimed to despise the house with a vengeance. Every time he exited the library, he would be frustrated and –to put it bluntly- pissed off. Harry didn't know what to make of it, and once he returned to school, Sirius' mood swings seemed have run their course.

Until a few days ago, when Harry found Sirius leaving the Hogwarts library again, pulling at his hair and cursing under his breath. Out of curiosity, Harry brought the Marauders Map with him during class hours for a few days, and made an interesting discovery. Almost every single moment of Sirius' time, from the morning right up until four o clock was spent in the library- so much so that if he wasn't in the Hogwarts library, then he was rarely in Hogwarts.

Harry wouldn't have been so suspicious of his godfather until he was informed by Hermione that Sirius was meticulous about 'cleaning his tracks' after leaving the library. He moved like a ghost through the library, not even displacing a speck of dust on any of the books he may, or may not, have perused.

Sirius usually told Harry everything that was going on in his life, personal and Order related, after he became his legal guardian. Why was he being so secretive about this?

"This isn't natural!" Harry was distracted from his speculations by yet another round of Ron's moaning. "Hermione is finding it too hot to even think! Merlin forbid Harry, I know we've had a few tight scrapes throughout the years, but if something life threatening was to happen now, I hope you know we'd be done for!" Amidst the chuckling and nods of agreement, Ron dropped into a heap in front of a blushing Hermione.

With everyone in the tight knit group privately reminiscing about the tight spots the 'Golden Trio' had found themselves in, it was with a delayed reaction that they responded to the shouts of confusion and excitement breaking out across the grounds.

Hogwarts resident 'Bad- Boy' and Co. craned their necks behind them and were privy to the sight of hundreds of Hogwarts students standing on the tops of their toes, hands raised to block out the sun and pointing.

Turning around in unison, fast enough to give everyone whiplash, the group suddenly realised what all the fuss was about.

Down by the castle gates, appearing literally out of nowhere, was an Amazonian warrior like Goddess...or, at least a modern day version.

She was soaking wet from head to toe, her tanned skin glistening like diamonds in the sun. Sand was clinging to her body tighter than the shredded jeans that stuck to her mile long legs. It was also potentially possible that the buckles on her ripped biker jacket were starting to rust from the droplets that were falling from her drenched mane of hair.

Gasps of horror and despair were wailed by the fashion conscious population of Hogwarts females, who only just realised that not only were her shoes next season's Louboutins suede version, but the heel of one shoe was hanging on by a thread.

Her chest was rising and falling at a rapid rate, drawing attention to the slashed white t-shirt she was wearing...the wet white t-shirt. Twigs and leaves fluttered to the ground when she stumbled, but managed to catch herself at the last minute before she fell face first.

Straightening up to her model like proportions once again, the mysterious woman placed her hand on her hip and raised the other to block the suns strong rays from her eyes. She stared around her with a befuddled look of complete and utter confusion- which immediately switched to anger when she took one step forward, and became aware of her broken heel.

The growl of frustration she was clearly muttering was almost palpable through the earth's surface. Sparks started to fly from her furious green eyes. When a shiver passed through his very bones, Sirius Black could almost feel the tingling touch of Fate tying him and this mystery girl together.

"Well, it appears that things in this neck of the woods just got interesting." Ginny Weasley mused to a group of dumb struck wizards.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask :D

Oh, and please don't get put off by the changing view points...it's only for the first four chapters!

Shewolf x


	2. Aren't We Very Sociable

_Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game - **Voltaire**_

_'Where the fuck am I?' _Was only the second thought that crossed Anna's mind before she caught herself from falling, just in time to avoid bouncing her face off the dry grass beneath her.

The first thought was _'What the fuck just happened?'_, when she was somewhere on route to the roof of the Arch de Triumph. Suddenly, she felt an almighty lurch that pulled her to an entirely different destination. If she didn't already know that something had gone seriously wrong, she was given proof enough when she stumbled out of her Jump. Anna never stumbled out of a Jump.

"Stupid fucking Paladins." She grumbled, having no doubt in her mind that her predicament was some fault of theirs. Raising her hand to block the sun's rays assaulting her eyes, she took a deep welcoming breath of northern hemisphere air.

Not many people noticed, but the air north of the European continent smelled fresher than that of the sun soaked Mediterranean land mass. It was weightless and unburdened by the trapped moisture of humidity. Willing her breathing to calm down, Anna stood still and welcomed the heat that hit her cold and soaking wet body. Her now destroyed clothes were drenched and clinging to her body in the most unattractive way.

_'Please let the boots be alright.' _She pleaded with Fate. Taking one, unstable step forward, she knew that the precarious deity had other things in store for her when she felt her heel give way.

The growl that ripped through her was earth shaking. There were some things money just couldn't buy...and a pair of pre-season Louboutins was one of them. _'Frankie is going to kill me!'_ More so than the Paladins on her tail, the image of her fashionista friend shouting at her had her trembling to the core.

Sighing, Anna decided to proceed onwards with the day that started out bad, and was quickly deteriorating.

_'Bloody Gloria bloody Estefan.' _From this day on, the mention of that name would be punished with blasphemous proportions in her presence.

Starting with the obvious fact that she was outdoors somewhere, Anna stood and took note of where she was. It was a large, sloping, well maintained field of dry summer grass- possibly a garden. A quick glance behind was met by the sight of a huge, wrought iron gate that looked securely locked, but possible to climb over if you knew what you were doing.

The landscape to her left was dominated by a huge forest that ran the entire length of the grounds and beyond the realm of her sight. To her far right was a giant lake, that had she not been soaked to the skin already, looked like a good place to cool off in the heat.

All this was noted in the first two seconds of her observation of these grounds. Anna was well practiced in the art of stealthy observation, and could tell what a person's day job was just by looking at the condition of their hands- fingertips in particular.

After a quick scan around, her attention was quickly captured by the crowds of teenagers clustered around the grounds in small groups, and immediately Anna felt her mood drop even lower.

_'What is it with this day and crowds of bloody teenagers!'_

At this point, anything in her sight line that wasn't an alcoholic beverage was most likely to be greeted with a growl. Taking in their wide eyes and dropped jaws, she started to make her way towards the group closest to her. _'This should be interesting.'_

On her unsteady and irritatingly long walk towards said group, Anna found time to really take in her surroundings.

Behind the mass of people and endless stretches of grass and courtyards sat a castle of gigantic proportions. Anna had been many places in her life, had strolled the lonely corridors and danced in the empty ballrooms of the world's most exquisite palaces; but even she had to admit that Buckingham Palace had nothing on this place!

In awe of the sight before her, Anna continued to trek across the grass towards a group of misfits sitting on the outskirts. She was still panting when her feet stopped in front of them, and so lacked the ability to talk for a few seconds. This worked in her favour, because the four teens and two grown men seemed to be having a similar dilemma themselves.

'_Some people have it easy.' _She couldn't help but think while staring at the six of them sprawled out on the grass without a care in the world. A few years ago, Anna might have been slightly bitter about this, but not anymore.

She had accepted long ago that she would never lead a normal life, and so just took it in her stride not to let her situation get the better of her. But sometimes, when those bat-shit crazy Paladins were involved, she couldn't help but think the universe was out to make her life a living hell. When it came to them, her usually cool, calm and collected persona turned off like the flick of a switch.

"Hey guys, how are ye? Sorry to interrupt and everything but eh...you couldn't by any chance tell me where I am?" Still panting, Anna smirked at them in the hopes of eliciting some sort of reaction in haste. Looking around at the blank faces of the odd mismatched group, she realised she could be waiting a while to get them to snap out of it.

Other than walking up and shaking them, she was formulating ideas in her mind before her gaze honed in on a pair of grey eyes the colour of a rainy spring morning. Her heart skipped a beat, and images of home started flickering through her mind at a rapid rate.

Endless open green fields...inexplicably beautiful grey skies...thrashing ocean waves the colour of steel...ever green forests from the pages of storybooks...

"But...but that...that's not possible! You can't apparate into-"Anna's bittersweet memories were interrupted by the disjointed sentence of a pretty girl, with bushy brown hair that she pulled off exceptionally well. Books were piled around her crossed ankles, forgotten about in the mid day heat. With essential time slipping through her fingers before trouble caught up with her, Anna threw up her hand to halt her.

"I'm really not trying to be rude, but I _really_ need to know where I am...like now." Snapping her finger for emphasis, Anna hastily took note of the amount of people that surrounded them.

She didn't even know the name of this place, and there was no chance of her forgetting that castle no matter what age she was; hence, she should never have been able to Jump here. Her form of Jumping was particularly unique in relation to other Jumpers, but even she had limits – she couldn't Jump to a place she couldn't visually picture in her mind.

Her heart clenched at the prospect of leaving now, but she knew it would break if the Paladins caught up with her. If any harm came to these kids because of her and the danger that followed her, she would never forgive herself.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."The pretty girl answered in a trance like state, information flowing from her by instinct apparently.

_'Hogwarts School of what?...ok, no time Anna, get it together.' _Anna was starting to get uncharacteristically anxious now, and was bouncing from foot to foot.

"Yeah, I'm going to need you to be a bit more specific than that?" She tried to keep her voice light for their benefit. It's extremely difficult to get answers out of people when they panic. Anna took a quick glance behind her shoulder, noticing with a sense of foreboding that her Jump Scar was still open. It should have closed a long time ago.

The obvious thing to do would be to leave now, from right where she stood. But there was something holding her back, preventing her from departing before she found out where this strange place was. It was a gentle tug that she felt within her body; deeper than flesh, blood and bone.

"Jesus, aren't we very sociable? Don't all talk at once now, every one!" Anna's voice rose a decibel or two, and still they stared back at her with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Fuck me; it's like trying to draw blood from a fucking rock!" She grumbled, which she thought strangely enough seemed to shock some of them into a state of semi consciousness. By the time she realised that it wasn't in fact her that brought them out of their trance like states, it was too late.

Her knees were only half bent in an attempt to duck to the floor when she heard the whooshing sound behind her. A painful grunt escaped her exhausted chest, and she only just had time to prepare herself for the pain of rope-like electrified chords trapping her arms against her body.

Using her only source of movement, Anna managed to twist her body in the direction of her attackers before she hit the ground. She knew that it was impossible to Jump with the cables trapping her, but natural instinct took over, urging her to escape anything that restrained her. The result was ten thousand volts of electricity running through her brain.

Anna bit down hard on her lip, and the metallic, copper taste of blood filled her mouth. The urge to vomit was worth it to prevent her from voicing her pain. She was determined not to give the Paladins her screams.

Ignorant to the dry grass scratching her face, Anna painfully lifted her head to find two soaking Paladins making their way towards her. One of them was limping, the others lip was gushing blood, and they both looked twelve times worse than her. Somehow, they both found ability to wear arrogant smirks, the below amateur idiots believing that after years of being chased by ex- navy seal mercenaries and world class assassins, it was these two idiots that had finally caught her. It was almost comical.

_'If they only knew they were only alive until now because I was being kind!'_ When Anna was met by an opponent that was detrimentally inferior to her, she preferred not to kill them outright. Instead, she tended to just leave them in life threatening situations, and from there on it was their responsibility to ensure their survival...it rarely happened. The Amazon was a difficult place to catch a ride from.

In using those pathetic electrified cables, those two grinning fools had just sealed their deaths, because now Anna was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She was reluctant to use her newly acquired 'gifts', due to the fact that they were so unpredictable. On the other hand, she had no other way out of these ropes; if those two witnessed what she was able to do leaving them alive was not an option.

In the end, the Paladins made the decision for her, when the muscular man with jet black hair and a scarred face removed a knife from his belt. In her life, it was either kill or be killed, and survival of the fittest meant using every weapon at your disposal.

Without closing her eyes, Anna was able to visualise the blade in the man's hand. She could feel the cold touch of the steel against her skin, and was just getting a feel for its weight when the cables tethering her to the earth snapped.

Without questioning it, Anna flipped herself off the ground and used her peripheral vision to take in the mercury eyed man with the rugged good looks pointing a polished wooden stick at her. She had absolutely no idea how he did it, but somehow he had freed her.

Psyching herself up, she turned with a smirk on her face and muttered a quick thanks to the handsome man, and with a wink she was gone again, leaving no trace save a fragment of twitching air.

* * *

What could be described as the entire school of Hogwarts was watching the unfolding events from some point of the castle. It didn't come as a shock to any of them to find Harry Potter and his friends somewhat associated with the strange girl who was clearly under attack from the two men following her. Students and staff watched in nervous anticipation as the brunette disappeared in front of their eyes yet again, leaving many questions unanswered.

Since Voldemort returned, it was common knowledge to everyone that it was impossible to apparate onto the grounds, and not just those who've read Hogwarts: A History.

Their questions were to remain unanswered, forgotten among the excitement when she reappeared once more. Her movements were so fast that they would have been almost missed had they not been accompanied by the sound of a dull thud. The resounding crack of breaking bone was teeth grinding, and everyone's attention was drawn to the two men, one of whom had just received a jaw breaking punch from the girl, before she disappeared in front of them once again.

Before the man raised his hand to grasp his jaw, the girl reappeared ten feet behind them. In the blink of an eye, she was gone again, back to her previous spot and crouched on the floor in front of the men once more. She swung her leg in a wide arc, knocking the broken jawed man onto his back with a thud.

His companion's reflexes were uncompromised by a mind numbing punch, allowing him to lift both legs from the ground before he too landed flat on his back; it was unclear yet who was to suffer a worse fate. Amidst the flurry of activity and glances shifting back and forth at the speed of light, before anyone knew it the girl was now standing directly behind the still upright man.

Just as his feet hit the floor again, she tackled him, forcing both of them to fall forward towards the ground. Mere inches before their faces made contact with the ground the girl disappeared again; along with the man. They didn't reappear.

It was widely assumed that these people, whoever they were, were muggles. At least the two men were anyway; they were wearing muggle armoured clothing and were carrying a wide variation of muggle weaponry. The possibility of them hiding wands underneath all that bulk was doubtful.

Hastily regaining his composure after his friend was hijacked, the other muggle rose from the ground. Paying no attention to his spectators, he pulled a plastic brick like object from his back pocket. Those students who were somewhat muggle savvy realized it immediately to be a mobile phone. After poking and prodding at it for several seconds, he gave up and replaced it back in his pocket.

Immediately he made his way towards Harry and the rest of the group. Sensing the dangerous vibes from the man, Sirius and Remus instantly leapt to their feet and took up a defensive stance in front of the students. Both men had their wands out, prepared to take action against the unwitting muggle if he attempted anything. The muggle spared both men's wands a condescending glance before neutralizing his hard expression and wiping away the stream of blood flowing from his mouth.

"I need to use your phone now." He managed to mumble with a grim set mouth. He was bulkier than his companion, if slightly shorter, with shoulders as broad as a bear. He had a deep, baritone American accent.

"Excuse me?" Sirius growled at him. His words were clipped, trying in vain to contain the rage boiling inside of him. The intent of the two muggles was obvious, and if it wasn't for the fact that there was an entire school of impressionable young children behind him, Sirius would have thrown his wand down and proceeded to beat the man to a pulp. What sort of grown man tries to attack a young woman?

"You can't use any form of technology on these grounds. They won't work." Sirius looked down to see Hermione inching by his elbow. He immediately stuck his arm in front of her and pushed her behind his back. Sirius was mad at the man for trying to hurt an unknown woman; if the man attempted to approach Hermione, he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

"You must be able to get a signal somewhere. Quickly, take me to your computer room. All of your lives could be in danger." The muggle tried to speak down to them, glaring up at Sirius in a pitiful attempt to establish some form of male superiority. Glancing behind his shoulder, the man pulled a knife from his belt.

"Your life _is_ in serious danger until you drop that blade you're holding." Sirius growled back at him, his mercury eyes hard and glaring at the muggle.

"I don't have time for this." Moving mechanically, the man returned the knife to his belt and reached behind him. When his hands emerged from behind his back, he pointed a gun at Sirius' face.

Harry started to panic, knowing perfectly well that Sirius had no idea the damage that could be inflicted upon him. He reached out and gripped his godfather's shoulder, attempting to calm him down and pull him back towards him.

Before Harry's grasp tightened on Sirius' shoulder, the girl appeared once again.

She was standing at the man's shoulder, towering above him in her high shoes. Her face was covered in still wet blood, clumps of it sticking to her now dry, windswept hair. Trails of tears were rolling down both of her cheeks, the salt clearing a path to reveal a flawless complexion. For all the obvious danger rolling off her in waves, it was the fire burning from her watery eyes that informed them all of how crazed with fury she was.

"You're time was up the moment you took this mission." Before the man had time to react, she delivered a nose shattering elbow to his face. With well practiced movements, she whipped the gun from his hands and pulled the knife from his belt, throwing them both to the floor with a clang of metal on metal. With calligraphic tattooed fingers, she gripped the front of the man's shirt and disappeared in front of their eyes. Again.

From that moment on, only glimpses of them could be seen across the grounds. She appeared like brief flashes of lightning at different altitudes, hurling the man to the ground with super hero like strength. His mangled body would hit the ground like a sack of bricks, but before he could catch his breath, she was on top of him once more. She continuously pulled him to his feet for a never ending period of time just so she could throw him back down to the ground again with a bang.

When everyone was convinced that the man was surely dead, and every bone in his body broken, she appeared in front of Sirius and Lupin once more. Holding the man up by the scruff of his shirt, he dangled like a puppet in front of her. The man was coughing up blood and choking on the collar of his shirt, but the sounds of his struggling didn't faze her. With a steady hand, she reached her palm in front of her- a choir of gasps were heard when the blade shot up from the ground and landed into her palm.

With a knuckle white grip on the handle, she disappeared in front of them once more.

Everyone remained frozen, anxiously anticipating her return. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Lupin held their breaths together when Sirius inched closer to the portal that twitched playfully in front of his eyes.

"Sirius, I don't think that's a good idea mate." Lupin whispered as the seconds painfully ticked by. Sirius outstretched fingers were twitching, begging to touch the shimmering air that took the shape of a rippling window.

"Look, up there!" A male students booming voice broke out in the background. Everyone whipped their heads around and they met a heart stopping sight. The girl pushed the man from the top of the astronomy tower and followed after him, letting him free fall below her. The man's arms were scrambling through the air, trying to find purchase in the empty space above him.

As the gap grew between them, she reached out her arms and fisted the man's shirt in the area of his abdomen. She still had a tight grip on the knife in her right hand, a dark liquid gleaming in the sunlight along the sharp edge of the blade.

Everything was happening in slow motion, right down to the frightening change of expression on the girls face. A blank, emotionless look morphed to mask her furious features- then the both of them were gone again.

While all of this was happening, no one was paying attention to the third figure that showed up on the ledge of the Astronomy Tower. Sirius Blacks attention had been drawn to the falling bodies behind him- he quickly lost his balance, and stumbled backwards through the portal behind him, his cry of surprise inaudible from the roof of the castle.

To everyone's horror, Sirius was still stumbling backwards when he emerged from the other side of the portal. He followed the two before him, and proceeded to fall directly off the Astronomy Tower.

* * *

Don't be shy, let me know what you think!

Shewolf x


	3. Do You Have A Deathwish?

_No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow - **Euripides**_

_Psyching herself up, she turned with a smirk on her face and muttered a quick thanks to the handsome man, and with a wink she was gone again, leaving no trace save a fragment of twitching air._

_'Enough fucking around.'_ Anna was pissed off. By the time she was in the Jump, all traces of mischievous winks and devil may care smirks had vanished. Now, she was wearing her mask, and for anyone on the wrong side of her, that did not bode well.

Anna no longer hated wearing her mask that was void of all human emotion. She didn't hate the fact that it came to her as natural as breathing. She didn't hate that she had to become numb, just to make everything she hat to go through less real. She didn't even hate that she couldn't allow herself to feel anything if she wanted to get her vengeance.

What Anna hated most, was that even when it was all over, and she was back to wearing her cheeky grin or sexy smile, it still felt the same. She still felt cold, broken, and all alone. And it was their fault!

They should have known better than to be caught off guard when she landed right in front of their eyes. Her arm was already swinging before she Jumped, gaining enough momentum to provide a resounding _crack!_ upon impact with the Paladins face. This meant that she didn't have to wait around for visual proof that she had broken something. Her knuckles were too bruised and swollen from the day's trials to allow her to feel anything her fists came in contact with.

Adrenaline was coursing through her veins like a fast acting poison, and all she felt was the wind caressing her face when she was flying through the air. The anticipation was thick in the air, the focal point of all her thoughts and questions; _'Will I finally get some answers today?' _For at least one of the Paladins sake's, she hoped she would.

She landed a far enough distance behind them to scope out the situation; the bewilderment was practically radiating from them. Anna decided to make a start on wrapping things up, and was already in a crouching position before landing in front of them yet again.

When she swung her leg out and caught one of their ankles, Anna was able to see just how much damage was done to her new boots. The sight of her heel hanging on by a few millimetres of suede was like a knife through the heart of her inner diva. And now, her inner diva was out for blood.

She Jumped behind the still standing Paladin, took a run and tackled him so ferociously that when she made the next Jump, his body was pinned against her by more than just gravity. His body provided a fairly effective shield against the icy wind blowing against them. Things tended to get a little cold when you were falling to your death through the air; although the Himalayan Mountains did provide a tasteful backdrop to this man's dying moments.

"Why did he send you?" She screamed into his ear through the war cry of the wind. His arms struggled against her tight grip, and he soon found out like the rest of his deceased colleagues, that she was a lot stronger than she looked.

"Where is he?" She roared again, concluding that the answer to the previous question wouldn't have any effect on her. Tears were streaming from her eyes due to the speed and force that they were falling through the clouds. Everything in front of her was blurred, but she couldn't let go of him...not yet.

Anna didn't see what was happening until it was too late; by then the Paladins had already pulled the knife clean across his throat.

She choked on the hot liquid as it flew back to smear across her face. All she could feel was the ice cold wind, the warmth of blood, and the pounding of his heart as it slowed. It quickly became a final dull thud that passed to silence in an empty corpse.

Anna all but flung his body away from her in frustration, turning her body in the air to glare at it as she passed by. She furiously pulled at the strands of her hair that were glued with his sticky blood, and calmed herself by remembering that all was not lost. She had one last chance to get some answers, and even the gods of old would have pity for him now.

Letting out a scream that was only for the wind to hear, Anna focused on the scenery that unfolded behind the mercurial eyed man.

"I don't have time for this." Was the first thing she heard after the sound of a gun cocking back. The scene she met after Jumping did nothing to improve her crazed state of mind.

The sight of the mercury gaze she focused so easily on to get here, hidden behind the wrong end of a gun was not the beginning of the end she had planned for this Paladin. The pain stakes would have to be increased...dramatically.

"Your time was up the moment you took this mission." She growled in the Paladins ear. Raising her arm, she used the force of her shoulder to deliver a bone breaking elbow to the Paladins face. Without missing a beat, she then pulled the gun from his hands, flicked her finger to turn on the safety, and reached around him to pull the knife from his belt. Both weapons thrown to the floor, she couldn't help the disappointment crossing her mind.

_'What is it with these people and guns? Do they really think they'll get far with them?' _Anna's disenchantment with guns began early on in her life, when she came to the conclusion that somebody's always got a bigger one.

Although she could admit they were useful if you could use them correctly, they almost always took the fun out of a fight.

Furious at both the Paladins naivety and stupidity, she grabbed the front of his shirt. He could thank his friend in the afterlife for taking the easy way out, because now he was going to have to be put through his paces the hard way.

The grounds beneath her were moving in a blur of green. Anna would Jump to ten feet in the air with the Paladin dangling in her grasp like a rag doll and hurl him to the ground. Before his body had bounced itself back off the earth after initial impact, she was on top of him, ready to redo his ordeal again.

Despite the fact that she was being constantly splattered with blood and assaulted by the sounds of cracking bones, Anna couldn't help but revel in the freedom of flying so fast through the air. Nothing could ever describe the freedom that came with being able to Jump.

And with that single thought, Anna was drained of all euphoria flowing through her veins with the spirited freefalling she was experiencing. Something as wonderful as Jumping should never be described in the same sentence as the beating of a Paladin. Sick of constantly having them show up to ruin her day, Anna decided that she wanted answers; and she wanted them now.

Settling the last weapon that came to mind, Anna returned to the shocked, horrified and slightly mismatched group, hopefully for the last time. Ignoring the gurgling of the Paladin choking on his own blood and the tight grip she refused to release on the scruff of his shirt, Anna extended her palm. She didn't have to wait long before the feeling of cold steel she sensed with both her mind and body was given physical form when the hilt of the blade made contact with her skin.

Equipped with a weapon, Anna knew there was one thing missing from the arsenal she would use to put the fear of god into the Paladin.

_'This should get him talking.' _When her feet settled on the hard flagstone of the castle roof ledge, she briefly released her tight grip on his shirt. His arms flailed and he momentarily lost his breath when he swayed, unbalanced, on the edge.

"Where is he?" She spun him around underneath her arm to face her, his feet stumbling clumsily underneath him. He choked up more blood that spewed beside her feet, but still she had no sympathy for him.

"Tell me where he is now, and I guarantee you can be the one to return to him and tell him how he's failed yet again!" Anna was getting dangerously frustrated with his inability to answer her questions. She got even more frustrated when she watched his hand clumsily reach for the switch blade in his belt.

Anna had more than enough time to knock his hand back and grab the knife for herself, throw it to the floor and continue on with her interrogation. But that's not what she did...she was already pushed too far beyond her last nerves to spend more time on this man. Instead, Anna slashed forward with her own 'borrowed' blade, and sliced a clean cut right across the man's wrist. She knew it was a fatal wound before she followed through with it, and blood proceeded to gush forward instantaneously.

Hoping a last rush of adrenaline would evoke some reaction from him Anna pushed him off the edge and hastily followed after him. His arms scrambled to grip onto her, his eyes grew wide and his face turned a chalky green. If she was going to get lucid answers, now was her best chance.

"You can tell me now, or else you can die for an organisation whose ambition is less promising and bleaker than you're immediate future." She reached forward and gripped him by the shirt once more, directly below his throat. She still kept a tight grip on her knife, which was situated close enough to his jugular to be threatening.

Anna could read from his eyes that he clearly wasn't persuaded just yet in favour of giving her information. He didn't yet realise how pointless the Paladins crusade was.

"I will find him, and I will kill him; that I promise you. I wouldn't lie to a dying man." Anna smiled sardonically at him, laughing in the face of his fear and his end. She didn't expect her condescending smile to cause him to react with laughter of his own.

"I wouldn't bother. He'll find you first, now that he's got help from your _friend."_ Anna could tell that the man's last words were just a last ditch effort from him to inspire fear into her, to hurt her or frighten her into mucking up.

But the suggestive mention of that one word –_friend –_ turned Anna's blood to ice. She couldn't feel anything at that moment, except for the bottom of her stomach dropping out. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she knew that she had just added some value to this man's dying moments.

"You don't know, do you?" A devilish grin exploded across his face, and specks of blood splashed across her face when he burst into struggling laughter.

"He's still alive, and he's helping US! How else do you think we've been able to follow you through the Jump Scar's?" For the first time in her life, the Paladins had one up on her. Normally, the fact that a Paladin was feeling superior to her just before his death would eat away at Anna...but not now.

Right now, she couldn't think straight, couldn't form coherent thoughts. How could _he_ still be alive? Why would _he_ not have come back to her? And why, above all things, would _he_ be helping _them?_

_'It's not possible, you'd know if he was still alive! He's just trying to trick you, to break you.' _Desperately trying to convince herself that this was true, Anna knew that she saw no lie in the Paladin's eyes when he told her. There was only smug victory.

And so instead of focusing on the pain or the doubt, Anna focused on her fury that had yet to subside. She wiped her face blank of all emotions, and was getting ready to relinquish her hold on the man's shirt and to watch- watch as he fell to his death, his already broken bones snapping like twigs against the unforgiving earth.

The unforgiving earth that Anna realized was full of hundreds of students, just in the nick of time.

_'He can't die here, not in front of all of them. Some of them are just little kids...barely older than you were when you witnessed the cold hand of death.' _Anna took a deep gulp of air, preparing herself for the cool waters that were about to surround them.

Her muscles relaxed, her heartbeat slowed and her mind went silent as she floated in the large abyss of water, watching the Paladin float away into the harsh depths of the Pacific Ocean. The trail of blood that led from Anna to him was slowly fading away, and she wished then with all her heart that the ties of blood that secured her to the Paladin organisation would fade away just as easily.

Now, that fading trail of blood brought solace to Anna. It was all she needed to ensure that soon enough, the Paladin would be briefly acquainted with a famished shark that would bring about a horrifying end. His death wasn't entirely on her hands after all.

Sharks can smell a drop of blood from a quarter of a mile away. Out here, in the centre of the Pacific Ocean, the Paladins lost blood was a dead certainty that the surrounding area was soon to become a feeding frenzy.

Feeling reckless though, Anna ignored her well honed instincts that were screaming at her to leave. Floating with the currents and under water streams, Anna felt at peace. Her mind drifted with her body, her consciousness shut off to the day's revelations and the questions that were begging to be analysed and answered.

Out here in the middle of the ocean, there was no one chasing her. Life and death wasn't a matter of knives, guns or violence- in fact, she had heard there was a certain euphoria attached to drowning. It was actually quite comforting, the thought that all she had to do would be to release the oxygen from her lungs, and it would be all over.

Death by drowning was a promising prospect, compared to the other more gory and most likely means of her end. Instead of feeling the sting of a blade or the throbbing of a bullet, all she would feel would be the empty weight of her floating limbs. She wouldn't die in a fit of anger or fury, passing into another world as a vengeful spirit who had been beaten...the water and nature would be her killer. Anna couldn't think of a better end than that.

When she looked back at this moment in years to come, Anna would never be sure what she would have done. At that moment in time, death seemed like such an easy option; but questions still needed to be answered, and people still needed her protection.

The universe decided the outcome of the situation for Anna though, when something heavy crashed into her back and all her remaining oxygen escaped from her lungs in her scream of shock.

Floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the chances of crashing into another human was highly unlikely. Anna already had a fair idea of what had happened when she gripped onto the toned arm that wrapped around her torso from behind. She couldn't find the will to be annoyed at the fact that someone else had managed to follow her through a Jump Scar.

She didn't understand why the possibility that the protective arm belonged to a Paladin never crossed her mind- she just knew by the way the person held her tight in their embrace that they were trying to protect her...that they would protect her.

And so Anna kept floating in the calm sea of the Pacific, drifting in the arms of an unknown saviour and almost missing the large expanse of bubbles that escaped from the man when he screamed in terror. The bubbles tickled Anna's face as they rushed to the surface, and when she opened her eyes she was almost sure it was too late- the large, jagged teeth of the great white shark in front of her were mere inches from her face.

The set of arms holding her tightened painfully, the pounding of her heart made her believe that it was about to burst out of her chest, and her lungs started to burn from lack of oxygen. In your ordinary run of the mill life threatening situations, where others floundered in panic and confusion, Anna flourished. It was as if she couldn't reach her full potential unless certain death was imminent.

This time though, something changed. For the first time in her life, there was someone stuck in the situation with her that had already taken on the role of protector, and she felt no need to fight them for it. Instead she just slipped into their arms.

But the pain she felt wasn't the sharp sting of jagged teeth tearing her skin to shreds. When she huddled into the grey eyed mans embrace, she couldn't reconcile the skull shattering, mind exploding agony clawing at the walls of her skull with the vicious jaws of a great white shark.

* * *

"Sirius!" Harry Potter's terrified roar echoed across the silent grounds of Hogwarts as his Godfather toppled from the Astronomy Tower. Sirius turned around, faced the ground with a devil may care smirk etched across his face and lazily began twirling his wand.

"Trust Sirius not to panic when falling off the Astronomy tower." Ginny laughed and rolled her eyes. The trapped air in Harry's lungs had just escaped in a mighty whoosh of air, when Sirius disappeared in front of their eyes; exactly where the fighting girl and man had.

"Lupin?" Harry grasped his teachers arm with a trembling hand, his own fear reflected back at him from the man's amber eyes. The professor's lost expression half dissolved into relief with the arrival of Albus Dumbledore striding out of the castle entrance.

Lupin made his way towards the headmaster, dragging a flustered Harry along behind him who had yet to release the grasp on his arm. Each step that brought Harry closer to the headmaster felt like a mile. Harry had yet to reach the wise wizard when Sirius reappeared once more- in a more dire situation than the one he left in.

Sirius was accompanied by _the_ girl, who was trapped in the tight embrace of his arms, and a heavy wave of water. Sirius' eyes were wide open and glued onto the fast approaching ground below him, his terrified roar reaching inside the castle walls and across to Hogsmeade. The girl's eyes were clenched shut, her hands grasping Sirius' arms tightly and preventing him from reaching his wand.

Before their bodies made bone crushing contact with the ground, Sirius' roars seemed to have breached the threshold of the girl's hearing. The instant she opened her eyes and witnessed the hastily approaching earth, the pair of them disappeared once more.

One moment later, Harry's eyes were drawn to the loud _thud!_ that occurred midway between himself and Dumbledore.

At the midway point, Sirius Black was spread eagled on the dry Hogwarts grass, gasping for air and spluttering water out of his mouth. The girl, whoever she was, was straddling Sirius with both her legs spread on either side of his abdomen. By the time Harry got to them, she seemed to be coming around to herself. Uncaring as to Sirius' gasping condition, she used his chest to push herself off his body and happily ignored the groan that came from him.

There was a blatant look of terror in her eyes when her gaze fell across Sirius- which is why it surprised Harry when his godfather started laughing, although it probably shouldn't have fazed him that much. Sirius' laughter began as quiet chuckling, but soon grew to its usual barking level.

The girl, who was once gasping and shaking on top of Sirius went rigidly still when Sirius' laughter started to erupt in the hush that encompassed the grounds. Her eyes widened briefly, until she realized that Sirius genuinely was laughing. Then they turned to emerald hard stone.

"Are you a complete fucking moron, or do you just happen to have a death wish?" Her hands that were now clenching Sirius' shoulders gave the man a violent shake. His laughter persisted.

"What were you thinking, following someone through a Jump Scar? Did you have absolutely any idea where you could have ended up? You could have gotten yourself killed!" Seeing that she still failed to silence him with words, the girl opted for bringing her open palm across the side of Sirius' head.

"Hey! Don't forget I saved your arse as well as mine love!" Sirius brought his hand to his head and started running it through his hair, nonchalantly rubbing it against the spot where he received the smack. "Even though I did earn the pain equivalent of a bludger to the brain."

"I'm quite capable of saving my own arse, thank you very much! Anyway, that shark was only there because I summoned it...in a manner of speaking." Once again her face adopted that hard, expressionless look and she refused to meet any of their eyes.

In all the excitement of the past few minutes, it didn't occur to many that, although three people had disappeared off the Astronomy Tower, only two had returned. Those that did notice this absence thought themselves better off not knowing the reason behind it after the word 'shark' was mentioned so casually.

Just as Sirius was about to open his smirking mouth again, Dumbledore silence him with an attention seeking cough.

"I have no doubt as to how interesting a tale yours would be to recount Sirius. Alas, perhaps later this afternoon over some lunch would prove a more suitable time. I fear, for the moment, that our attention should be with someone else." Dumbledore calmly stated, whilst nodding his head towards a location directly behind Lupin and Harry- a place where all the commotion began, and which unfortunately for them was occupied by a rather worse for wear looking muggle holding a gun.

His clothes were ripped and torn, he was covered in dirt, deep scratches and blood and he had a murderous gaze fixed upon the group surrounding the girl.

When his finger pulled back against the trigger, even the most naive of the magical community were well aware that the resounding bang was not the effects of a spell.

When Harry noticed that the bullet was coming straight towards them, he knew he should move. He knew he should have grabbed Lupin's arm and pulled them both to the ground. He knew he needed to move- but he couldn't.

He found himself caught in one of those surreal moments that occasionally happen in life when everything comes to an almost complete halt. Those few seconds that slow down in the middle of a car crash, where you can almost pick out which passenger is going to survive, and which one has no hope.

Or when you see that tree stump in front of you, just as your foots about to get caught in it. You know what's going to happen, but you can't seem to make yourself move fast enough, so you just go on watching when the ground inevitably becomes ever closer to your face.

Harry remembered thinking this was the end- it was almost comical really. Seventeen years of surviving in a magical world, eight of which he was pursued by the world's most deranged and evil wizard who's practiced more dark magic than most people have had hot dinners- and he was about to be murdered by a muggle bullet.

He was in the middle of wandering whether or not his recent revelation would cause him to die with a smile on his face when the bullet stalled mid air. There were only two people in the entirety of Hogwarts that didn't gasp in shock when the bullet changed direction and hurtled toward the muggle, pausing and violently vibrating right between his eyes. And one of them was in no mood to be messed with.

* * *

Don't be afraid to drop off any questions!

Shewolf x


	4. Now Who Gets To Play God

_The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear – **Herbert Agar**_

_But_ _the pain she felt wasn't the sharp sting of jagged teeth tearing her skin to shreds. When she huddled into the grey eyed mans embrace, she couldn't reconcile the skull shattering, mind exploding agony clawing at the walls of her skull with the vicious jaws of a great white shark._

Anna knew she should have been thinking of somewhere to bring them, somewhere far away from the sharp jaws of a shark...somewhere safe. The strong arms clutching her closer to the hard abdominal muscles and pounding heart behind her shoved all thoughts from her mind, and even though death was imminent in front of her, safety from behind her was certified. All she wanted to do was seal herself into the protective embrace behind her...and so, for once in her life, Anna did exactly what she wanted- and that's when the pain hit her; the mind scorching pain that burned all the connective tissues and cells of her mind.

She couldn't think, she couldn't concentrate...she couldn't even feel the warm trembling body behind her. Her mind was being compressed by tonnes of water and forceful vibrations shattering her skull. Her brain felt like it was at war with itself, imploding and pressing against the walls of her cranium.

And then the pain went deeper. It rippled through her skin, tearing through muscles and tendons and her very bones, searching for something deep within her.

Anna found she could no longer physically or emotionally hold onto the pain anymore. She wasn't aware of what she was trying to accomplish in doing so, she just knew that she had to do something. Bending all her focus and will on somehow forcing the pain out of her; with her eyes clenched tight in pain, neither Anna nor her saviour could bear witness to the ripple like manifestation of Anna's pent up energy vibrating through the water.

Just when it stopped and Anna sighed in relief, (totally oblivious to the strange fact that the shark was no longer there waiting to devour them) she felt a wonderfully warm sensation flowing through every vein and vessel in her body. The origin of the feeling was at her waist, flowing throughout her from the arms of the beautiful stranger behind her. Words couldn't describe the molten liquid like spread of tingling warmth inside of her, turning her limbs as weightless as a drifting cloud beneath the sea.

Luckily, it calmed Anna down enough to remind her that they were still floating in blood tinged waters in the middle of the Atlantic, and completely devoid of oxygen. She cleared her mind until her thoughts were nothing but a blank canvas, and concentrated on her next Jump. She had just finished constructing the image of her Sardinian Villa when the arms around her tightened, and Anna became aware that they were already Jumping- only she hadn't done it.

_'The clever bastard brought us back through the Jump Scar!'_ She rejoiced in the cool rush of air brushing her soaked skin. She spluttered water from her mouth, finding it near impossible to gasp for breath with the desperate arms that clutched at her. Water filled her ears, but she could still hear a muffled scream pushing through, growing more terrified as the seconds passed and the wind speed increased.

'_Wind speed?'_

Anna's eyes flew open, like a doe caught in headlights, to see recently watered, yellowed sun dried grass looming dangerously close to her. Mentally crying out her annoyance with a day that was full of potential disasters at every turn, Anna Jumped once more.

Her original destination had been the point of her arrival. However, the day's trials had taken their toll on her, and she found that even taking a breath was becoming an effort. She knew before she opened her eyes that she hadn't made it the full way, but at least she had taken them to dry ground in a relatively unscathed manner.

She _was_ taken by surprise when she found herself sitting across her saviour's stomach, straddling him with legs curled up along his ribs and arms wrapped over his strong shoulders. For a moment she refused to move, and just let her head remain on his chest, the rapid rising of his relieved lungs calming her.

When he turned his head down to stare at her, Anna found herself almost lost once more in the grey eyed man's eyes, her rescuer for the second time today. On some level, she realized that she knew it was his arms that held her so close...there was a reason those eyes had spoken to her so earlier of past, comforting memories.

His gaze was so intense, their position so comically intimate that Anna was waiting for some witty remark to escape from her lips, but her lungs just weren't ready to exert themselves for that much effort yet.

With nearly a dozen set of footprints closing in on them, Anna decided it was time to make some sort of movement, just so nobody would think they were dead. She used the mercurial eyed god's body as leverage to push her weight off the ground, and continued to hold onto his shoulders while she sat up.

Had she not been sitting on him already, she would have tackled him with a bear hug and proceeded to kiss his entirely too kissable lips for eternity in her overwhelming joy that he was smart enough to save them. She was immediately halted in her tracks when his body began to vibrate, and he began to cough uncontrollably.

Anna soon realized though that the melodious barking was not a cough...the handsome stranger underneath her was actually laughing. And he didn't appear to have any intention of stopping.

Anna had never been rendered speechless by a boy before, let alone a man, but right now she was shell shocked! She was all for the hysterical joy of the adrenaline rush you feel after escaping the clutches of death, but this man was nowhere near hysterical. He was laughing with the delight of someone who had just bounded off a fun fair ride and wanted to go again. She was not impressed.

"Are you a complete fucking moron, or do you just happen to have a death wish?" Her fingers gripped his shoulders painfully tight and shook him roughly, trying to rattle some sense into him.

"What were you thinking, following someone through a Jump Scar? Did you have absolutely any idea where you could have ended up? You could have gotten yourself killed!" The Adonis like creature beneath still showed no signs of easing up on his barking laughter, so Anna did the only thing she could with the minimal effort she retained to silence him- she slapped him upside his head.

"Hey! Don't forget I saved your arse as well as mine love!" If Anna wasn't so infuriated with him, she would have found his scolded puppy dog act almost adorable, with the way he gingerly rubbed his head.

"Even though I did earn the pain equivalent of a bludger to the brain." Anna had no idea what a 'bludger' was, and in her current predicament had no desire to find out. What she did have a desire to find out was whether or not the pain he was talking about was the same agony she had felt? And if so, what could that mean?

All thoughts of the sun riddled white sandy beach in Sardinia she could have been perusing were wiped from her brain. He had just insinuated that he had rescued her (which he had), when she was quite capable of rescuing herself (which she would have, had she been offered another three seconds). If there was one thing she hated feeling was helpless. In fact, she despised it.

"I'm quite capable of saving my own arse, thank you very much! Anyway, that shark was only there because I summoned it...in a manner of speaking." Anna immediately averted her eyes the moment the words left her mouth. She hoped no one would question her methods of summoning man eating creatures underwater; the subject of blood tended to turn people's stomachs.

Anna braced herself for an ongoing argument when the body beneath her tensed once more. She was doomed for disappointment when the sound she heard wasn't the husky voice she was expecting, but the gentle clearing of a throat.

"I have no doubt as to how interesting a tale yours would be to recount Sirius. Alas, perhaps later this afternoon over some lunch would prove a more suitable time. I fear, for the moment, that our attention should be with someone else." Anna twisted her body to look at the universes most mismatched authority figure.

A wise Merlin look-a-like man, with an endless white beard and half-moon glasses, he grew more interesting as her eyes studied his attire. He was draped in a silken bathrobe...thing, woven of the deepest blue and maroon and threaded with silver stars that actually twinkled.

Following the old man's pointed nod from her position (which she had still not made any attempt to move from), Anna's breath caught in her throat when she witnessed yet another Paladin.

_'You have got to be fucking with me?'_ Not only should that Jump Scar should have closed an incomprehensible amount of time ago, Anna was surprised there were any surviving Paladins left! Although a couple of his limbs were hanging at a strange angle, and he looked like he crawled out of a snake pit, he was still standing.

She blinked rapidly for a second, trying to loosen the strand of hair that was clinging to her eyelashes as it tended to do so often. _'Too long for her own good!' _Her mother used to say to her father, while they watched her bat them at people to get her own way.

Anna wasn't shocked by the sound of a bullet firing from the barrel of a gun, and so the coppery strand stayed lodged where it was while she narrowed her eyes. There was a crowd surrounding her, blocking her view of the worn looking wizard and the messy haired bespectacled boy towards whom the bullet was flying.

All of those people were blocking her view, yet somehow Anna could still see the bullet flying through the air. She could feel the brief warmth radiating from the cool metal although she wasn't touching it. She could feel the speed at which it moved, and the air as it brushed past it.

Anna couldn't explain how she did it; not with the bullet, not with the knife...not with anything. It was an instinct she found herself acting on when the situation called for it, an instinct that came as natural as breathing. When she tried to duplicate it in her spare time, it was almost as impossible as she once perceived it to be. It was almost as impossible as it _should be._

Right now, when the situation called for it, Anna found it a simple task to stop the bullet mid air, defy the laws of physics, and reverse the course of the death dealing object. She let the Paladin believe he was to meet his death with his own gun, and allowed the bullet to continue at full speed just before it blew a hole right through his forehead.

She left the bullet frozen between the Paladin's wide eyes long enough for her to take in the entire scene in front of her. Holding the exact mental picture of the scene in her mind, she zoomed in on the beaten man's trembling body.

When Anna Jumped, she was close enough to him to smell the metallic tang of blood oozing from his cuts.

"Now who gets to play God?" She spat at him, forcing the bullet forward ever so slightly, enough to make a dent in the quaking Paladin's skin. She heard his terrified gulp, his swift intake of breath and she stood there, basking in his terror.

In the meantime, she tried to ignore the very fact that his presence here was evidence towards his late colleagues dying words. In spite of all the evidence that supported his claims, among the many being how frequent they were turning up in her life recently, Anna still couldn't believe that it was anything other than a lie.

_He_ had always come back to her, just as she had always come back to _him_. At one stage or another, they always found each other, always drawn together from across the globe like magnets.

Gathering all the hate, fear and anger she thought had been drained from her after today's emotional and physically destructive events, Anna channelled all her energy into the next few minutes. Into this Paladins _last _minutes.

No thoughts entered her mind, and she allowed herself to run purely on instinct in an attempt to make her last resources of energy last. The idea to relieve him of his weapons hadn't fully formed in her mind before they were stripped from the man's uniform, hovering in mid air along with the bullet. Knives, daggers, guns and even bullets, all pointing their sharp and terrifying ends at their owner.

It would be so easy to drive them forward through his flesh right now, and it would be no less than he deserved. But she needed answers...and unfortunately a dead Paladin comes with only one drawback; he can't speak.

Anna was aware of the harried footsteps briskly making their way towards her, but the thought didn't register in her head. In her mind, all that existed right now was her, and a Paladin who would have answers for her questions.

Sadly for him, his two comrade's had information that she wanted also, but weren't too forthcoming. Anna could no longer trust hearing what she wanted 'straight from the horse's mouth' anymore; she had to go to the source.

She wanted the information so badly that she was willing to do the one thing she swore she'd never do. Something that terrified her more than anything else did- something that once done could not be undone, and for which the consequences were unknown. She was going to use something that frightened her more than even the nightmares she had woken from.

Of all the deadly and gruesome things in this world, the one thing that Anna feared the most was herself- and what she was capable of doing.

"Usually I would give you the chance to do this the easy way." She gestured towards the levitating weapons that she would have used to threaten him into talking.

"Recently though, because of the lack of co-operation on your part...the 'you' in this context of course being you, yourself and the annoyingly insane organisation you've aligned yourself with, I'm going to have to resort to more...extreme measures." Anna took a deep breath, unflinching at the sound of metal clanging against itself as all the weapons dropped to the floor, including the bullet.

Her hands were unnervingly steady as she raised them towards the frozen with fear Paladin and settled her palms on either side of his head. The small group forming behind her didn't arrive in time to catch the last words the man would ever hear, the most genuine and guilt ridden words ever whispered to him.

"I'm so sorry."

* * *

_There were only two people in the entirety of Hogwarts that didn't gasp in shock when the bullet changed direction and hurtled toward the muggle, pausing and violently vibrating right between his eyes. And one of them was in no mood to be messed with._

Sirius failed to notice that these two people happened to be Albus Dumbledore, and the young woman draped across him. He was too busy sighing with relief when the object speeding toward his godson stopped mid air and began hovering between (yet another) muggles eyes.

He knew once he felt the soaking wet body on top of him turn rigid that it was _her._ Her sparkling green eyes were narrowed in concentration, boring holes in the muggle down by the gates. Her eyes captured him and drew him in, pulling all his focus towards the bright gem like orbs that seemed to hold so much power.

He began wondering what would happen if she lost concentration. Would the muggle fall to the floor dead, or would the object revert back to its natural course and once again hurtle towards his godson? Unwilling to take the chance, Sirius held his arm in place. His hand was almost begging him to reach forward and pull back the long piece of hair caught in her feather like lashes...those few strands of coffee coloured hair were blocking his view.

The point turned moot when she closed her eyes. He was almost waiting for her to reopen them and stare back down at him with the mischievous glint he noticed earlier. Alas, it wasn't to be.

Sirius gasped when he suddenly felt her absence on top of him like something had been ripped from his own body. The area above him was no longer merely empty space; it was now a space that needed to be filled by one person only.

Sirius didn't know where these feelings were erupting from. He didn't know where his intense need to be near her, to touch her was coming from. And honestly he didn't care, because everything was wiped from his mind when he didn't have to look far to watch her standing in front of the muggle. In front of one of the one's that had been so willing to hurt her only moments before.

White hot fury mingled with untameable fear exploded inside of him, and the shock of it most definitely would have brought him to his knees had he not been on the floor already. Ebbing away at his emotions from the side was a nervous anticipation, strangely akin to excitement.

_'It's because of her...it has to be!' _He knew enough to know that his feelings were neither rational, nor entirely his own either.

Manoeuvring his body to prevent being sucked through that portal again, Sirius jumped to his feet and burst into a sprint towards her. He was still fighting to catch his breath from his dip under the sea, but still found the force inside of him to push himself faster than those following him.

His stomach clenched when he saw the muggles knives levitate away from his body. Hovering right in front of him, in mid air, it would be no hard feat for the bruised and battered man to reach out for a dagger and pierce it through the young woman's chest.

He was trembling still when he came to an abrupt halt behind her.

"Usually I would give you the chance to do this the easy way." She growled dangerously low, gesturing to all the weapons floating by her, all pointed directly at the man.

"Recently though, because of the lack of co-operation on your part...the 'you' in this context of course being you, yourself and the annoyingly insane organisation you've aligned yourself with, I'm going to have to resort to more...extreme measures." Frustrated with his poor view point, Sirius made to take a tentative step forward.

A familiar, soft and reassuring hand gripped his shoulder to prevent him from taking that step and avoiding his certain death when all the shining, sharp edged blades hovering in the air above them dropped to the floor. The nearest one pierced the hard ground three inches from Sirius' foot.

When he raised his eyes again, he found the muggle standing frozen solid, the young woman's hands cradling his head. As ridiculous as it sounded, Sirius wouldn't have been surprised if the woman went to rip the man's head right off his shoulders.

Instead, she just stood there, unmoving.

It was the man who caught his attention.

First, he took a sharp breath of air and his brows furrowed, in confusion or concentration Sirius couldn't tell. Then his eyes started twitching behind his closed lids, straining from their sockets. His body started jerking, his limbs spasming at random intervals in between his gasps and groans.

Moving to the side, Sirius could see the woman's eyes flicking also, in an infinitely more controlled matter. They were twitching from left to right, almost as if she were watching a film that was being played on the back of her eyelids.

Her once stable breathing pattern started dramatically hastening. Fine lines appeared on her forehead, drawing closer and closer in time with her eye lids clenching tighter. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, her panting breaths not allowing her time to take in enough oxygen. Soon, she was gasping once more, worse than she had done when she emerged from the ocean. Every couple of seconds, she would shake her head to the side, as if she were trying to rid herself of some thought.

By now, Sirius' was bouncing on the heels of his feet, itching to pull her to him and release her whitening knuckles from the forceful grasp she held the man in. The man's groans eventually turned to low whimpers, growing louder and louder until it turned to a fully fledged scream.

It was at this point that the young woman opened her wet eyes and roared at him.

"WHERE IS HE?" The pain and fear in her voice was almost unbearable, shrieking through the ears of the school's occupants as it echoed endlessly across the quiet grounds. Sirius found it excruciatingly hard to stand by and watch it.

He himself could feel all the pain and grief that didn't come across in her words. He knew it wasn't from past experiences or the sincerity of her voice- he _knew_ that in the deepest recess of his mind, he was somehow feeling her pain.

Her words were like sandpaper across his skin, the emotion behind it like needles running over his bones.

The young woman whose voice held so much emotion had an entire school's attention riveted, their eyes captured by a scene that they desperately wished they had been absent for.

And yet, the man whose attention she was crying out for hadn't even opened his eyes. At this point, Sirius doubted he could, they were welded together from the pain he was going through.

For what could have been hours, or maybe mere moments, everybody watched on frozen. The entire grounds and surrounding area remained eerily quiet, as silent as the grave.

But soon, the young woman who appeared like an immortal god of old before their eyes became mortal. Her body began folding in on itself, her muscles contracting; she bent over as if someone was punching her in the stomach. Her shoulders began to shiver and hunch over.

Minutes ago she was knocking men to the floor and hurtling through the clear blue sky like an avenging angel; now, it seemed like an effort for her to remain standing. Her endless legs were shaking, unable to withstand her own weight and the weight of the unsteady man.

A desperate whimper escaped from her pale lips, and she began repeating the same thing over and over, under her breath.

"Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop..." She begged and pleaded.

Sirius didn't know what he could do, but he knew that he needed to get her away from that man. His hand shot towards her, but once again he was stopped by the same familiar hand.

"Not yet..." Albus Dumbledore grabbed Sirius once more, his wizened eyes never leaving the trembling girl.

Tears were pouring from her eyes, sliding down her drawn cheeks and slipping to the ground, adding to the salty water already fallen there.

"That enough!" Sirius forcefully removed the headmasters hand from his shoulder, sparing the old man the furious gaze he was wearing because of him.

He was immediately standing at her side, tentatively reaching for her elbow in an attempt to prevent her shock. Just before he could touch her, her eyes flew open, and revealed a terror inside of her that no one else was unlucky enough to witness.

Her blood curdling scream wrenched through the air, terrifying the grounds worse than that of any ferocious animal their world had to offer. Her horrified eyes were transfixed on the muggles expressionless face, his head still held between her hands.

Her eyes were somewhat detached from reality, her movements slow and uncomprehending, until with a sudden jerk, she released her grip on the man's head. Her arms remained frozen in the same position while his body fell to the floor with a resounding thud.

He laid spread eagled on his back, his face gaunt and blank. Blood was slowly trickling from his ears, forming a sluggish path down his neck and across the side of his face.

The young woman beside him started gasping and panting once more- but this time, she couldn't catch her breath. Her arms had dropped somewhat from their previous position, but were still filled with so much tension that they remained in the air. Her hands and fingers were trembling, her elbow locked in place, a single trickle of blood running down towards the bend in her arm, droplets of the red liquid falling to the ground like her tears.

Sirius followed the trail of blood from her elbow up along her arm, where it joined together from separate streams flowing down each of her fingers, coating the tips of her fingers.

Blood- it seemed to be spattered all over her at some stage during the day, and yet never seemed to be her own.

The man the young woman disappeared with earlier, who no one knew how he met his doom, only that the evidence of it was covering her face when she returned.

The man with the broken jaw, who she hurled from rooftops and pulverised his body. The man whose body she abandoned in an ocean.

And, finally, the man lying at her feet.

Sirius was at a loss of what to do when he turned back to her to find her in the exact same position. Her desperate breaths were too fast to deliver sufficient oxygen to her lungs. Her trembling limbs looked like they could give way any moment, and her face was so drawn that she looked as if she had just seen a ghost.

So quickly that he might have missed it had he blinked, her vacant eyes shifted from her hands to the man on the ground below her. This time, she finally did gasp.

Sirius shifted ever so slightly, and she turned to face him. When her beautiful forest green eyes caught his own, they were no longer vacant. A spark of realisation blew them up like a brief flash of lightening, holding his own until they blanked again, and rolled to the back of her head. Her body collapsed, and by the time Sirius caught her in his outstretched arms, she was unconscious.

When he held her fragile body in his arms, he thanked Merlin that at least she was still breathing...unlike the man lying on the ground below them.

* * *

Thoughts or comments?

Shewolf x


	5. You've Lost Your Marbles

So yeah, this chapter doesn't really have much going on, it's just to give a bit of insight into Anna's lifestyle and her personality. I'll try not to keep it too long until the next chapter, where you'll eventually find up how she managed to end up at Hogwarts! Please let me know what you think :D

* * *

Anna came back to her senses slowly, suffering from the worst hangover of her existence. She slowly became aware of the sturdy bed underneath her, not at all like the soft one's she had in any of her homes. _'Where are the fluffy pillows, the silk sheets, the black- out blinds…and for the love of God why am I still dressed?'_

She was also aware of the frustrated sighs issuing from some one beside her every few minutes, but for the life of her she couldn't tell who it could be. And for some reason (last nights activities being the most likely), she could not bring herself to care.

Her head hurt worse than it had the morning after that first time she visited her favourite bar in Mexico City…she vaguely remembered waking up on one of the altar's in the Pyramid of Giza in what can only be described as the 'remains' of her clothes from the previous night and clinging to an almost empty bottle of Morgan's Spiced Rum…try explaining that one to a angry tour guide and a group of excited tourists.

_'Where the fuck am I?" _She asked her self (for the second time that day) as she cautiously opened her eyes and gazed up at the large stone ceiling above her. She would have said it was the infirmary of some Gothic style church…had she been living in the 1800's! I mean lets face it, churches aren't known for their high comfort levels are they?

_'What sort of aristocratic pompous loser did I go home with last night?_ She feared for the potential scarring of her brain, as she got ready to get this over with. Finding out who you could have ended up with the night before is a lot like ripping a band-aid off, the quicker you get over it, the quicker you can leave in either good spirits, or extreme embarrassment. Luckily, Anna had never got that ruined, or gotten around that much, to go home with some unfortunate looking guy, but the fear was always there. The stories you hear sometimes...

Having never been one to hang around in general, Anna didn't hold out for morning sex, and preferred to suffer her hangover in silence. Alone.

Bracing herself, she kept her green eyes open as she tentatively turned her body on its right hand side (wincing at the throbbing pain she felt around her stomach and lower ribs) as took in the form of a sinfully gorgeous black haired man sitting in the chair beside her hospital bed…_hospital bed?_

'_You have got to be fucking with me?' _ There was no denying that was where she was, minus the annoying beeping machines and the drips and drains that stuck into your arms and…she didn't have time to take in the rest of the place, before her attention was stolen by the man as he pulled forward on his chair, leaning towards her anxiously. The way he surveyed her through those tempest like stormy grey eyes- _FUCK!_

The pain in her head, her sore muscles…everything made sense! You could never forget a pair of eyes like that, although the concern they contained now did not fit his handsome face.

Pulling herself up, much to the angry protests coming from her abdomen, Anna turned her frightened gaze to her already trembling fingers, and didn't have to search long for the traces of blood that lingered underneath the fingernails of her now clean hands.

Her chest started to close in on her, her throat becoming constricted, as her body began shaking at the memory of what had happened yesterday…what she had done.

Everything before she came to the castle…school?...didn't matter, as the reason for her pounding headache made itself known in the scene's that were replaying through her mind. Gun's were ok, knives were better and fists were brilliant…they only left scars that were visible to the eye and a few haunted images that replayed in dreams every once in a while, if you couldn't get your hands on enough alcohol to prevent them. And one of those situations hadn't happened to Anna since she was fucking 14!

But the worst type of scars, the one's you can't tattoo over or make excuses for, are the hidden one's, that lurk behind your every waking thought and remind you of what you really are, and that maybe…just maybe, the world really is safer without you.

You think you've hit rock bottom then, but that's not the worst part of it. That's when the doubt creeps in and nestles it's way into the back of your mind for days. Doubt…of all the emotions in this world, doubt is the one that does the most harm. Not knowing if what you're feeling is real, or if it's just a trick to make you vulnerable and weak? Are you really awake, or is this all some sick sort of dream that your trapped inside? _Is he really gone?_

This last one hurt her more than the rest of them, as she remembered what the Paladin had said to her before he met a hopefully unpleasant end in the Pacific Ocean.

_'…with the help of your friend. He's still alive you know. And he's helping us…'_

Her trail of thought was broken, as she was pulled out of her living nightmares by the rough and calloused hands that were clasping her together in front of her. Strange how they were so comforting to her, as she felt a warmness trickling down through her fingers and arms, her chest no longer heaving only in panic, but in anticipation as she waited for it to reach her and sooth her aching limbs, mind and heart.

Before the warmth got a chance to move past her shoulders, Anna cried out in anger as the man was pulled away from behind by an older woman in a freaky looking matron uniform (not freaky in the kinky sense of course, just sort of _vintage_ looking), who pushed him behind her and planted herself in Anna's view. But she was gazing further than her still outstretched hands, which were no longer trembling as they weakly remained suspended in the air, as if waiting…

"It's alright dear, your ok. Everything's going to be just fine, all you need to do is take a drink of this and you'll feel much better." The matron tried to sooth Anna, as she held out a steaming goblet of some weird pink shit. Looking into the woman's eyes, kind as they were, Anna still felt unsure.

_'Who the fuck makes pink tonics?' _She had a few tonics strewn all over the place, so that she wouldn't have to search too far to find one lying on the floor, or underneath her pillow maybe.

Turning her head away from the woman towards the end of her bed, she took in the faces of the three extremely weirdly dressed people that had become her audience. One of them had been with the group she approached yesterday, the one with the nice smile and kind eyes. In comparison to the rest of them, he wasn't that bad, although he was still wearing a cloak…I mean in fairness, it's September. And a cloak…really? Who are these people?

She turned her gaze from him to the old man, who honestly looked like he belonged roaming the halls of some deranged nursing home, until you looked past the half moon glasses and saw the knowing twinkle that came from his piercing blue eyes. Hey, she herself was a little eccentric at times; her eccentricity just didn't lead her down the path of starry silk bathrobes. His appearance wasn't threatening, although he looked like one of those men that had no trouble in getting a room to silence. He was smiling encouragingly at her…

The woman beside the old man definitely radiated the teacher vibe, with her tight no nonsense bun that pulled every wisp of hair in place. She had the thinnest lips Anna had ever seen, and Anna thought they were half heartedly smiling, until she looked up into and saw that it didn't reach the wary gaze of her eyes. Good, at least this woman had a brain. Spotted trouble when it was passed out in front her.

All of this happened in less than a minute, and Anna's chest and knee's still hadn't quit trembling before she had decided against taking the voodoo drink…which is why she can't explain that when she caught the grey eyed man/god's encouraging nod, she took the pink concoction from the matron's outstretched hands and hesitantly rose it to her mouth.

_'Man up A, just think of it as a vodka shot. Not too great at the time, but fantastic in the long run. Plus, it's not as if it could make you feel any worse.'_ And so thanking the gods for her lack of gag reflexes, Anna gulped down the pink liquid before her taste buds had time to register whether it tasted good or not.

The pain in her head didn't numb (much) but it cleared her thoughts instantly and she could actually focus once more on her surroundings. Holding the weird cup to her mouth a moment longer to hide her face, she replaced her usual cocky attitude before lowering the cup to her lap. Feeling a relaxing sensation flow through her chest, she finally got her breath back and smiled at the matron as she handed the freaky cup back to her outstretched hands.

"So…I take it the responsibility of breaking the awkward silence falls on me." She turned to ask them, as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"It seems you are feeling better then, miss…?" The old man asked her after letting out a slight chuckle.

"Anna." She answered quickly. No seconds names, ever. It only complicated things.

"Well, Anna, you gave us quite a shock." He laughed gently.

"I gave you a shock? I was half way to Paris when I stumbled into this neck of the woods!" She sat herself up straighter from the bed, throwing her arms up into the air and ignoring the mild pain that she still felt in her stomach.

"Where am I anyway? What sort of 'school' is this?...and when am I going to get introduced to my audience?" Anna asked impatiently as she stared at the group who were still gawking at her from the end of the bed. Except for the grey-eyed man…he moved back to the seat he had been sitting in and was visibly more relaxed than he had been earlier.

"Ah yes, introductions. These are Professors Remus Lupin and Minerva McGonagall. They are teachers here at this school. This kind woman here is our excellent matron Madam Pomfrey, and my name is Albus Dumbledore. I am headmaster here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He gestured to each of them in turn, leaving out the grey eyed man (the most important in Anna's eyes…although then he might lose the whole sense of mystery he's got going on over there in the corner?), then to himself.

"Excuse me, but Hogwarts School of _what_ exactly?" The skepticism obvious in her voice, as she looked around at each of them like they were daft. She avoided turning her eyes so far right to the occupant of the seat beside her bed. Her eyes probably wouldn't be able to leave him if they did reach him….

"Witchcraft and Wizardry dear." Minerva McGonagall informed her.

"Great…I knew this would happen someday…thought I'd make it past twenty at least but hey, what can you do" She sighed and kept mumbling to herself resignedly, as she pulled the coarse sheets off her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. If she was honest, although this place was weird, it only made about number 4 on her list of ' Weirdest places to ever find myself in', but she still saw no reason to hang around and wait so she could join them for their six o clock pill. She was out of here…

Until of course her knee's buckled the second they hit the floor, and she found herself snared in the outstretched arms of the grey eyed man…her savior, yet again.

That tranquil warmth started to spread through her body as he stood up and held her in place in a standing position, so that Anna felt tiny electric shocks across her skin over the contact of their bodies.

"What is your name anyway?" She asked him, slightly annoyed that someone could make her react this way. He still held onto her even though she was standing perfectly steady on her own two feet. She pulled out of his grip to cross her own arms across her chest (and felt her skin through one of the numerous rips in her once white tank top). She could feel her skin tingling where he had touched her skin.

"Sirius Black, pleased to meet you…Ms. Anna." He wasn't overbearing or flirtatious, but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes that seemed as if it permanently resided there, and she couldn't help but shudder excitedly at this. His voice was slightly husky, and he smelled like leather. Her mood instantly changed to relief…nope, didn't lose any mystery at all. You couldn't expect him to really; what with a second name like Black…it rolls of the tongue nicely.

Picking up on the familiar scent of alcohol that lingered in the air between them, Anna used this as the perfect excuse to get her bearings.

"Great, you have whiskey. I could use a drink." She said, staring at the ground beneath her as she turned left and right.

Sirius looked apologetically around at the 'tsk' he heard from Madam Pomfrey, but was saved from making explanations.

"Excuse me Anna, but you knew what would happen someday, may I ask?" The old man asked curiously, as she turned to face him before crouching down to the floor to search under the bed for her shoes.

"That I'd end up in a mental hospital. Didn't know how they'd get me here of course, but don't worry. When you tell them I'm gone, just say I climbed out the w-" She rambled on, before a cry choked out the rest of her sentence. Apparently, she had found her shoes.

Sirius could have sworn he saw tears form in her eyes, as he held his hand out to help her up. Instead of grabbing it though, she slapped it away and stared at the broken heel longingly, as if it was the most treasured possession she had. When the cold stone floor had an un welcomed sensation against the backs of her legs (due to more rips in her jeans) she pulled herself up and collapsed down on to the bed, pulling a pillow across her face while still holding onto the shoe for dear life.

The group that surrounded the bedside stared on in silence, not knowing whether to laugh or not.

"These were next seasons…weren't even out yet…" Her muffled voice could be heard as she mourned over the decimation of her favourite shoes.

"Yes, the same thing happened to my pair just last week." A low sneer reached Anna from underneath the confines of the pillow. Obviously some one else had joined to watch her grieve…

Sirius had been about to let out a slight chuckle at the girl, until the voice of his nemesis offended his ears from across the room. He was glad he didn't laugh…

Anna's body slightly tensed, but that was about all the physical reaction she made, as the pillow lifted off her face and flew across to hit the speaker, a greasy haired man, in his pasty face, who ducked out of the way in the last moment.

He wasn't fast enough however; to duck before the sole of the Louboutin hit him in his large nose.

Anna had not lifted her hands once.

"While I do think your talents are quite fascinating Anna, I would ask you not to use them in such a manner while you are in this castle." She barely heard the old man say, over the barking laughter that erupted around her.

Too tired, too hungry, and beyond pissed off to mourn her shoes any longer, Anna pulled herself up with a sigh and turned to face Dumbledore. "Yeah, well nobodies going to believe you later anyway, so it really doesn't matter." She then turned to the greasy haired, pasty faced man who had dared to make fun of her in her hour of despair "People that cannot understand the terms 'sunlight' and 'shower' have no hope of understanding the bond between women and shoes, especially Louboutins and especially when their mine. So I won't hold it against you."

"Now, if you guys want to just point me in the general direction of who ever is in charge around here, I can leave you all to do…whatever it is that you do in these places." She turned to each of them, wondering what you could possibly do here. I mean, there were a few beds, but nothing else to keep them amused for the day. Maybe they were excited at a new arrival?

"Anna, I assure you that this is a school, a very good school may I add, and that you have not…lost your marbles, I believe the saying goes." Ok, weird as it sounds, but Anna didn't actually think that this man was lying.

He didn't seem crazy, and was pretty well aware of what was going on around him. Plus, by the way they all turned to him; he did seem to be in charge. Maybe they were like a cult, or something? That would explain a lot…secluded castle in the back arse of nowhere, no electricity, no technology…

_'Please don't let that pink shit have come from some dead animal parts…' _ She mentally cringed at the thought.

"Yeah, you see witchcraft, 'wizardry', voodoo; hocus pocus shit or whatever…it sounds pretty crazy to me. And…wait a minute. Why am I still here? There's a happy hour waiting for me somewhere out there with the normal people, and as cool as this place looks from the outside, it's sort of disturbing from the inside so if you guys don't mind I'm…just…gonna…" Her sentence trailed off, as she watched Dumbledore pull one of those polished piece's of sticks that all these guys seemed to have, and started waving it through the air in front of him. When he was finished, glowing turquoise letters hung in the air in front of her eyes that read: Welcome to Hogwarts, Ms. Anna.

With another slight flick of his…wand (_'I can't believe I just used the word 'wand' in a sentence' _mentally cringed again_)_ a small bunch of the same colored sparks appeared out of the end of it, like little fireworks. They made the shape of a bird, that sang as it flew once around her head, and then up to fly out into the sunset.

"If you wouldn't mind, I think it would be best if we removed ourselves to my office." Dumbledore said to an awestruck Anna, who had finished waving her hands through the letters, and began laughing to herself as she watched them reform back into place.

"Are there any broomsticks up there?" Anna asked excitedly, as she glued herself to the headmasters side and started hounding him with questions as they left the hospital wing behind, her Louboutins forgotten (for the moment), and not a care in the world that she was walking around a magical school in shredded jeans, a torn tank top, ripped leather jacket and a pair of odd socks.

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Review guys? Please! Lay it all out for me!


	6. Your Not Serious

Hey guys. Ok I know, its been a ridiculously long time since I last updated! Seriously, could not get this scene out the way I wanted to, and after almost a month I'm still not really happy with it but sure hey, we'll get over it! Let me know what you think!

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**"**Come on, their moving!" Harry called to Hermione and Ron. They had been sitting in the Gryffindor common room since the events that had unfolded earlier this morning, after being shooed away from lurking around the hospital wing by a frantic looking Professor McGonagall.

Ron and Hermione had been playing wizard's chess for a while, until Hermione inevitably got sick of losing and retreated deep into some book or another.

"You can't possibly be doing homework; we're only back a week!" Ron gave out, looking for Harry to back him up, but Harry's eyes were more or less glued to the Marauders Map since the trio returned from the hospital wing.

_'Why is Sirius holing himself up in there?' _Harry's patience was wearing dangerously thin with his so-called godfather.

He thought that Sirius trusted him; in fact if he was being honest with himself, he knew that the man trusted him. But why was he keeping him in the dark so much? Harry was ecstatic to hear that Sirius would be spending the year at Hogwarts, but he just wanted to know why.

If even he heard the usual go to for the other Order members, 'I'm sorry Harry, but the Order won't let me tell you because they think your too young to fight even though your of age and probably know more about it than most people out there (and so on…)'…but no.

(Truth be told, Harry added the last bit in himself, but that still didn't make it any less true.)

The only reply Harry ever got to his questions were evasive answers, like 'I'm helping to protect the school', or 'someone has to keep an eye on you don't they!' and even the unforgettable 'Well, I've got nothing better to do have I?' Please, Sirius Black with nothing better to do?

Since the man was acquitted by the Ministry, he barely stayed in the same place for more than a day, how is going to cope in Hogwarts for an entire year? And why was he spending every waking moment in the library, hounding through books like there was no tomorrow? Sirius hated libraries!

And now what? He couldn't even make time for his godson and let him in on the only interesting thing which happened in the past three years that wasn't Voldemort related, because he spent the day sitting by a psycho's bedside? What the fuck!

"Probably keeping guard or something, that girl is mental! She killed that muggle, did you see him?" Ron argued with Harry, but Harry still couldn't let it go…

"Harry, what do you plan on doing exactly when you catch up with them? We should wait, I'm sure Sirius will tell you what's happened later on." Hermione tried to reason with Harry, but he had already made up his mind. He was about to reach underneath his chair for his father's invisibility cloak, when something Ron said brought his gaze back up.

"D'you reckon Dumbledore knows that Scrimgeour is up in his office?" Ron was staring absent mindedly at the map, and didn't notice as both Hermione and Harry snapped their heads away from what they were doing to exchange a worried look.

Scrimgeour had been interfering with Hogwarts since the day he replaced Fudge. Of course, he knew that Dumbledore had set up the Order again, but with no proof, and no one who was willing to speak about it, all he could do was watch. And watch he did…

When they arrived off the Hogwarts express, the students witnessed that from Hogsmeade onwards the place was over run with Auror's and Ministry Officials, and that wasn't even mentioning the school, where you had a better chance of making it through the day without hearing a single N.E.W.T lecture than running into at least one auror.

Didn't they have better things to be doing…things like checking up on the dementors, seeing how many breakouts had been covered up this week…Fuck it, if it wasn't too much to ask of them, they might actually do their jobs, and finally get around to catching the most powerful dark wizard of all time, possibly avoiding the war that everyone knew was coming!

Unfortunately, the one place where Voldemort was least likely to turn up, was the one place that had the most protection in possibly the entire wizarding world.

"Come on, we have to go and let them know!" Harry rushed out through the portrait hole, followed by Ron, forgetting completely about the invisibility cloak. Hermione however, did not forget…

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"You are not serious." Anna groaned, looking around at the dozens of staircases that were moving around above and below her. Credit where credit is due, it was pretty amazing, but once you get over the fact that the staircases move to accommodate the user, the fact still remains that they were stairs, and even magical one's involved what Anna saw as an unnecessary effort.

And Anna had gotten over it fast. Living her life constantly on the go, she had been forced to pick things up quickly, and eventually she learned that things go a hell of a lot smoother if you just accept them for the way they are. A wise woman once said 'If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.'

Fortunately for Anna, most things in her life required the same attitude, hence the laid back carefree vibe that flowed from her. She had grown to hate structure and organization, and learned that life is a lot easier (and much more fun) if you just avoid plans and go with the flow. And there weren't many things in her life that stuck around long enough for her to put the effort into changing them anyway…

Some things in her life however, did decide to stick around. A perfect example of this would be the banes of her existence a.k.a Paladins. Seeing as she found it impossible to change her attitude of hatred, disgust, hostility, etc towards them…Anna just decided to change the situation.

One day, it dawned on her that her life would be a lot simpler if she just erased the Paladins off the face of the earth, if she got revenge in the process then it would only add to her joy at not having to constantly look over her shoulder every time she turned a corner.

From behind her, she heard the husky voice of Sirius Black, but didn't hear what he was about to say because he was cut off.

"Don't. Just please, don't." Lupin was looking at his friend with a resigned look on his face, and Anna couldn't guess why.

He caught Anna looking at him strangely, and let her in on the joke.

"Sirius like's to use the pun that is his name frequently. It was funny when I heard it the first time when I was twelve. Now, it's not so funny…" He turned a fake angry glare towards the man-god, who had a mock hurt look on his face.

Anna let out a laugh at the pair of them, acting like two brothers. He didn't look like a teacher to Anna, he seemed far too laid back and relaxed…but then again, the only teachers Anna had experience with were the one's that thought you how to do long division and the what was the difference between 'to', 'too' and 'two'.

"What exactly is it that you teach here anyway, Professor…?" Anna asked.

"Lupin, but please call me Remus. I teach Defense against the Dark Arts." He saw the confused look on her face, and realized who he was talking to.

"Oh sorry, I forgot this is all new to you. I teach the students how to defend themselves against dark magic."

After thinking about this for a while, Anna thought she had it summed up pretty good. "So, basically, you teach them how to fight?"

"Well, not exactly. I teach the students defensive spells, not offensive one's…among other things…" He trailed off at the end of the sentence, and Anna saw that he was avoiding something, but didn't press the subject; her mind was already revolving around something else.

"That's impossible though. It's like telling someone how to cook food, without telling them what ingredients to put in." Remus went to interrupt her, but she just kept on going.

"You can't possibly defend yourself against something you have no knowledge of. Even if you don't teach them how to use offensive spells, they still need to be able to recognize them, how their used and what their effects are. Right?" Smugly smiling to herself at leaving her opponent speechless, Anna turned around to see Dumbledore smiling at her.

"A point well argued Anna." He nodded towards her, but didn't really seem to be looking at her.

"Why thank you, sir." Anna laughed lightly, and heard Snape mutter something that sounded a lot like 'women' under his breath. Anna got over it; having grown used to men's insecurities while around her, and is the main reason why the few people she did know were mostly egotistical boys.

The sound of crashing glass and a high shriek on the other side of the corridor let her know that apparently, somebody did not take too kindly to this. Looking around though, she couldn't see anyone else in the corridor except for herself, Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, McGonagall and Snape.

In fact, Anna just noticed that for such a big place, it was freakishly loud considering the fact that as far as she could tell, they were the only people that were in the corridor. Then she found the source of the noise.

"I think that painting is staring at me…" Anna mumbled, not taking her eyes away from the beautiful tanned woman in the painting, who was wearing a toga and by the looks of it, had just thrown a vial against a wall (from inside the painting).

"Really? I thought that good old Circe was glaring at Snivellus over there?" Sirius said in an offhand voice, holding the humour out of his voice as he watched Anna. Her eye's were all but popping out of her head, and she still didn't turn away to look at him.

"Circe? As in the Greek Goddess, Circe?" The group watched on as Anna strolled over towards the painting of the fuming woman, her violet eyes fixed on Snape like they were trying to burn a hole through his skull.

_"Oh men! I would have to create a new breed of swine to transform that one into!"_ The Goddess was throwing her arms around so much that her toga was constantly slipping down of her shoulder.

_"Yes, you could do that…or if you really wanted to punish him, you could just leave him the way he is? I mean in fairness, he can't get much worse than that, cant he?" _ And after the goddess stared at Anna for a few minutes in silent shock, the pair of them began laughing together, staring over a Snape who returned their look with a glare.

Sirius, Lupin and McGonagall were looking at her as if she had just sprouted another head, and Dumbledore had yet to remove that encouraging smile. That's when it occurred to Anna that they didn't have a notion what she had just said…

"Dumbledore, I was not aware that you were accepting scholars into school this year?" Circe asked Dumbledore, smiling at the old man.

"I wasn't aware of it either, my dear lady." Dumbledore continued to chuckle along with the goddess.

"Where the bloody hell did you learn to speak Greek?" Sirius managed to get the sentence out after a few minutes.

"In France..." And when he didn't cop on a few minutes later she added "Where the fuck do you think I learned to speak Greek idiot!"

"Did you live their?" Lupin proceeded with sensible questions.

"From time to time. I move around a lot…" She trailed off, obviously reluctant to go on with the conversation, but she wasn't really included in the rest of the conversation between Lupin and McGonagall.

"That would explain the lack of accent then…" More then happy to stay out of their conversation about her, Anna turned around to face Sirius, easily ignoring Snape who was listening to the conversation between Dumbledore and Circe.

"So, where are you from?" He looked at her, taking in the dark brown hair, deep green eyes and long lashes. There was a slightly regal air about her face, maybe it was the high cheekbones?

"Well, here, there…everywhere. You know…" She was blessed from taking the conversation any further, when all the heads in the corridor snapped towards the staircase that was (eventually) making its way towards their floor.

Clinging to the banisters of said staircase were a panting Harry, Ron and Hermione, the three of them had a frazzled look about them.

Not even waiting to regain his breath, Harry jumped the last few steps of the staircase before it had secured itself to the floor and ran to stop just in front of Dumbledore, yet again repeating the same sentence the headmaster had heard everyday for the past week that they had returned to school.

"Sir, we have a problem."

Any of the laughter that hung in the air for the past few minutes evaporated, leaving tension in the stomachs of each and every one of them.

"Do you know, I have been waiting for somebody to say that to me all day Harry. How foolish, to think that Anna arriving would have been my only problem for the day…a quite enjoyable problem, may I add my dear." Dumbledore turned his resigned look to Anna, and gave her a fleeting smile which she returned.

_'Why is he being so nice to me?_' This was the one thing that was bothering her. In a school that was filled with moving staircases and living portraits, the one thing Anna couldn't wrap her head around was why this man was being so nice to her.

Humans generally don't do nice things for each other, unless they have something to gain from doing so. But looking around this place, Dumbledore seemed to have everything he'd ever dream of needing, and if he didn't…well it couldn't be that hard to conjure something up could it?

"Well, no use beating about the bush Harry. What's happened?" Dumbledore returned his suddenly serious gaze to the boys eyes.

_'Why does he get nice vibrant green eyes, and I'm stuck with these wine bottle one's?'_ Anna showed her talent yet again for being easily distracted.

"The Minister is here sir. He's up in your office."

"I suppose there is no point in asking you how you know about this Harry." It wasn't a question.

"Err-" Sirius' grip tightened on the boys arm, and Anna hadn't noticed how fast he managed to get to the boy.

"I didn't think so. Not to worry, I suppose it's best to get a move on. Now, let me see…" the headmaster turned his gaze to Anna, but he seemed to be more looking through her, than looking at her, if that was possible? The blue twinkle in his eyes led Anna to believe that for him, it was.

"Ms. Granger, perhaps you would be so kind as to lend Anna some clothes that are lacking rips and tears?" The bushy haired girl turned her gaze to Anna, looking slightly awkward but still letting out a 'No problem Sir.'

"Oh no that's ok don't worry about it. I should probably go anyways. It's almost twelve, there's clearly something wrong with the world if I'm not slumped over a bar in the next hour…" She said this last part of the sentence more to herself than anyone else, but still got slightly annoyed when the red haired boy broke the awkward silence in the room.

"Its half bloody four in the day!"

"Not in Singapore its not!" Emphasizing every word, Anna commended herself on her quick time zone skills, and was saved an argument with Dumbledore by the sound of yet more footsteps turning the corner.

Except this time, nobody in the room looked relieved to see the three men that were striding towards them, and a wave of hostility hit Anna like a ton of bricks as everyone else in the room witnessed the smug smile planted on Dawlish's face when he saw Anna standing away from the rest of the group.

"I told the minister that it wouldn't be difficult…" Dawlish laughed with his colleagues, before raising his wand and pointing it towards Anna.

As far as she was concerned, the man had made the his first mistake of the night, and quite possible the biggest mistake of his life...so far.


	7. SHE Is Not The Cat's Mother

Hey guys...sorry about the wait. Summer kind of caught up with me, something that I am not complaining about either! Chapters are gonna start getting longer now, because the story is going to start taking off from here! Hope you like it, and don't forget to review :D

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_'Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.' - Thomas Jefferson._

"I'm going to count to three, and if that twig your holding in your hand is still pointed at my face, then I will take it from you, and snap it in half." Anna's threat did not go unnoticed by Dawlish and his goon's.

They had the general good sense not to laugh, however strange Dawlish thought it at the time for a mere muggle to be threatening him...

"And how do you propose to take it from me _muggle_?" His sneer only resulted in making things so much more exciting for Anna.

Sirius had made his way to stand beside Dumbledore, who strangely enough, had not interrupted the intense exchange of words going on between Anna and Dawlish. He stared at her in confusion, and watched as a wide grin took over her face. The way she looked now, she could not have reminded him more of a predator that was joyfully taunting its prey.

Just as he had started to admire the mischievous gleam that took over her eyes, she was gone.

Less than one second later, she reappeared behind Dawlish's back, one hand placed on his shoulder as she leaned into his ear and whispered "By stealing it from your grasp of course." With a wicked smile, she quickly grabbed the wand from his hand, and Jumped once again so that she was standing in the exact spot she had been two moments before, beside Sirius once more. Dawlish' face was priceless, as well as the two other idiot's standing behind him, who would need each others help to pick their jaws up from the floor.

Sirius, hearing his own barking laughter mimicked by Anna's sweet yet slightly mischievous laughter beside him, turned to see her twirling the wand between her fingers. He became distracted by the faint markings she had up and down the inside's of each of her fingers, almost like tattoo's, except that they were a reddish colour, too deep for scars...but no, they couldn't be. They were too perfect. It looked like letters, and script between each one...

Removing his gaze from the strangely entertaining way she was playing with Dawlish's wand, he noticed that she had the red ink was covering her body...she had tattoo's everywhere! Her tanned skin just prevented them from standing out as black ink does. Looking closer, he noticed tiny, intricate script running on the inside's of both of her forearms, and once along the inside of her right bicep... '_Where else is she hiding them?'_

Had Sirius been able to take his eyes off her, he would have noticed what his godson, and his godson alone had noticed. Harry had learned that situations are more easily judged when he took in the reaction of a certain genius, who Harry had always counted on to have the answers. And at this very moment Albus Dumbledore was smiling, no not smiling…beaming.

_'And she doesn't even know the extent of what she can do…'_ The cog's in Dumbledore's great mind started to work over time, as he imagined just what Anna could have done, had the situation been altered to a life or death one that included a death eater. The numerous conclusions he came up with were enough motivation for him to decide that he was definitely making the right choice. Now all he had to do was go and get Scrimgeour out of his way, and he was home free to get down to work with testing her limitations.

"Anna, while that was quite entertaining, we have many matters to discuss, and dinner time is growing nearer every moment. If you could please return the wand to John, he can be on his way." Dumbledore knew he was taking a risk, attempting to exert some control over the clearly free spirited and fiery young woman, who clearly had an issue with authority figures, as she just demonstrated. It was a risk however, that he felt was necessary to take.

The look in her eyes told him just exactly what she thought of him giving her order's, but luckily the possible conflict was put off by the stampeding sounds of the herd of raging bulls coming around the corner. And they were led by none other than the alpha lion himself…Rufus Scrimgeour, who did not appear to be in a good mood.

"Dawlish! What are you still doing here?" He barked at the auror without breaking his stride, who immediately straightened out of the slacked jawed shocked position he had been staring at Anna in for the past five minutes.

"Well, Sir, there was a bit of trouble, nothing I can't-"

"It was a rhetorical question Dawlish; I couldn't care less what you're doing here, as long as you get out of here now. And for the love of Merlin, take that bloody muggle with you!" Oh no, Rufus Scrimgeour was not in a good mood at all. He stood in front of Dawlish, glaring every now and then at Dumbledore from across the wide gap between them.

"For your own good, I suggest that you, and every one else around here, stop referring to me as 'the muggle'. It sound tacky, and I don't like it." When the Minister and the rest of his 'goon's' turned to look at her as if she had just spontaneously grown ten heads, Anna felt the need to add on "Just so we're clear." She also seemed to think it was a necessity to add a self satisfied smirk.

It appeared that Anna was used to giving one line explanations for why people shouldn't do things. _'Most likely because she delights in showing them exactly why they shouldn't do them in the first place…'_ Dumbledore mused to himself, seeing how this could be a problem in the time that (hopefully) follows this tiring day.

"Excuse me?" Scrimgeour was beyond appalled that someone had actually spoken back to him. He wasn't a man that stood for any nonsense, and to be spoken back to by a muggle of all things…well, let's just say it wasn't on his agenda for the day.

"You're excused." Anna said politely, never taking her glaring eyes from Scrimgeour's face. For a moment he looked perplexed, until he shook his mane of hair and turned to Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, could you please enlighten me as to why my office's have been pestered with owl's and numerous howler's all afternoon, from fuming parents wondering how three muggle men, armed with knives and Merlin only knows what other ridiculous muggle weaponry, followed a young woman who 'apparated' onto Hogwarts grounds…even though it's impossible, and even though muggle's can't apparate!" Dumbledore didn't appear to have moved a muscle, but was still regarding Scrimgeour with nothing but polite curiosity, as he waited for the next bout of anger to break from the Minister's jaws.

"And why have two of said muggle's gone missing, presumably dead, while another one is most definitely dead. All of this witnessed by the entire student population, before _she_ was carried to the hospital wing…unconscious!" Scrimgeour was panting now, one of the large vein's in his fore head looking dangerously close to exploding. Of course, he knew once he heard the word 'apparate' that Dumbledore had something to do with it. Who else would have been able to remove the charms protecting the castle?

Obviously, this girl was no ordinary muggle, and Scrimgeour wanted to find out why Dumbledore was interested in her. '_He had obviously invited her to the castle…had probably known she would cause havoc, planned on it so that the trouble it caused for me, would get me off Dumbledore's back for a while. But the old man was going soft if he thought that was enough to throw Rufus Scrimgeour off his back. That old man is hiding something, and by god's I am going to find out what!' _

That was along the line's that every worker back at the Ministry heard when Scrimgeour asked to see the latest report on Dementor disappearances from Azkaban. Upon seeing that a hole had been burned right through the center of it, Scrimgeour had a fairly good idea what the reason was before his secretary feebly informed him that "A Mrs. Parkinson's howler burst into flames on it Sir." Does Dumbledore not think that he has better things to be doing than running around after the crack pot lunatic's, werewolves and what not that man brings into this school. _  
_

Speaking of lunatic's, while Scrimgeour was attempting to regain his breath, he had begun searching around the corridor; looking to see why it was so crowded. When his eyes rested on a certain individual, his blood started to boil ferociously again. Too many of his problems were now packed into the one tight corridor, and he didn't like it one bit.

"What is he doing here?" He roared at Dumbledore, while pointing to a mock offended Sirius.

"Well Rufus, as soon as I heard there was an auror convention being held in Hogwarts corridors, I couldn't resist offering my services to the workload that I knew would be accomplished. I thought it was going to be something exciting, maybe along the lines of filling the quota of Voldemort's spies we could allow to walk through the Hogwarts corridors as well as the Ministries. Imagine my disappointment when I found that it was nothing more intriguing than sending three senior auror's to arrest an innocent and unarmed young woman." Sirius' eyes were harboring a dangerous storm in them now, and the fact that the look was being mirrored in Anna's deep green ones was doing nothing to alleviate the hostility in the room.

"Dumbledore?" Scrimgeour roared at the headmaster, who by now had assembled the rest of the auror's behind him in a sort of triangle, as if waiting to be attacked.

"Rufus, when you have calmed down and are willing to listen to my explanations, then I will be more than happy to 'enlighten you'. As it is, I think this conversation would be better suited to the confines of my office, don't you agree?" Dumbledore stated this from the other side of no man's land, as if he was remarking on how lovely the weather was. But there was no mistaking the serious note he held behind his words.

After a few seconds, he calmed down enough and nodded towards Dumbledore, who replied with "Wonderful, shall we?" And he indicated his hand towards the staircases.

Before he went any further however, Scrimgeour turned to Dawlish. "Clean this mess up, and come back here when she's detained." There was no mistaking who they were talking about.

Anna was about to make her opinion known, before a light touch on her shoulder made her turn around ready to spout venom, until she looked into the calm eyes of Remus Lupin that were filled with slight concern.

"Best to leave this to Dumbledore. He has a way with words, and you'll find yourself sitting in a comfortable chair with a cold drink far more quickly this way." Anna had been about to argue, but another light touch on her shoulder made her calm down, because of the entirely different affect it had on her. Sirius Black's hand lingered on her shoulder for no less than ten seconds, and that alone had prevented her from jumping feet first into an argument with the Minister for Magic. _'This is so not good.'_ Anna thought to herself. "As long as it's got alcohol in it." She said grudgingly before turning to see the source of who had just mentioned her name.

"Minister, Anna, as of earlier today, is my guest here at Hogwarts. She has just woken up from being unconscious for the best part of four hours, and I'm quite amazed that she's able to walk around so soon without collapsing, never mind being interrogated by a wizard trial. I'm sure, if asked politely, she will answer your questions in my office. But I'm afraid that it is out of the question for her to be taken to the Ministry." Dumbledore's note of finality was wasted on the Minister, who seemed to have no intention of leaving without knowing that Anna was locked up in a dingy cell somewhere…away from Dumbledore.

"Now see here Dumbledore, she-" Apparently, Anna had had enough. She had Jumped, only to land two feet in front of the Minister with a very angry look on her face.

"Listen up, Mufasa. First of all, _she_ is not the cat's mother, so _she_ has a name. It's Anna. Don't forget it. Secondly, as I just demonstrated, it is impossible for you to 'detain' me any where I do not want to be, so if I were you I'd be counting my lucky stars that someone has been smart enough to capture my interests." At this she turned around to Dumbledore and informed him " I am very interested to see just exactly what a wizard keeps in his office." Before turning back to Scrimgeour to get her final say. "Now, if you want to ask me questions, fire ahead. I probably won't answer them, but no harm ever came from trying." Anna had been too busy grilling Scrimgeour that she didn't see Dawlish sneaking up behind her.

Or so that's what every one else thought, and which is also why Sirius Black covered the ground between him and Dawlish in two stride's. Fortunately for him, he grabbed onto thin air, because unfortunately for Dawlish, when he reached out to grab Anna from behind, he found himself gripping thin air.

He also found himself hanging upside down from one of the chandeliers two seconds later, by nothing but his shoe laces. Anna was crouched on top of said chandelier, Dawlish's wand still held in her hand. She leapt gracefully off the chandelier, smiling to herself, and Jumped so that she landed effortlessly in front of Scrimgeour again, handing him Dawlish's wand.

"I also suggest you put a leash on your dogs, before any of them get bitten." At this, she turned around and chomped her teeth at the rest of the auror's standing behind Scrimgeour. They all jumped back words in shock.

Sirius thought to himself, had any other woman done that, he would probably have laughed. However, because Anna was so fierce and such a predatory creature anyway, it came out nothing short of sexy…and though they would never bring it up, Lupin, Harry, Ron and even the rest of the auror's shared the same opinion.

"Shall we Dumbledore?" Anna said, and followed the headmaster out of the corridor, and up on to the moving marble staircase.

Before following Dumbledore and the rest of the Hogwarts crew, Sirius decided to bask in the glorious moment of watching John Dawlish hang helplessly from his shoelaces, having been put there by no less that a muggle (and a female one at that.) He was not alone and was delighted to share the wonderful moment with none other than his best friend, Remus Lupin, when he felt the werewolf's arm rest on his shoulder.

"Plan on hanging around for long, Dawlish?" Both men laughed at Sirius' joke, before turning and giving a cheeky grin to the rest of the auror's and Scrimgeour.

Next, Sirius turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione and draped an arm around his godson's neck on one side, with Lupin standing on the other side of the trio. "I think it might be best if you three weren't _seen _in Dumbledore's office for this chat mate, don't you?" He turned to his godson with raised eye brows, when they were far enough out of ear shot from Scrimgeour and the rest of his circus. Sirius' grey eyes had abandoned the dangerous tempest look they had earlier, only to be replaced with the mischievous gleam they always had, and Harry was delighted to see that the smile reached his eyes when he heard the crashing and cursing that let them know Dawlish had managed to disentangle himself from the chandelier.

Comprehension dawned on Harry's face, only to be replaced with annoyance.

"I left it up in the common room!" He smacked his forehead.

"You would also leave your head behind if it wasn't attached to your shoulders, but please don't get any idea's, because there are only so many things I can look out for you for, while also managing to get you to breakfast and class _on time_." Hermione stood on the other side of Harry, and inconspicuously opened her bag to reveal his invisibility cloak lying beside 'Hogwarts: A History'.

"Hermione, has my godson ever told you just how brilliant you are?" Sirius joked with the young witch.

"He might have mentioned it once…or twice."

Just then they had a timely interruption from a very confused looking Ron and Lupin.

"Do any of you three have the faintest idea what a Mufasa is?" Hermione and Harry turned to each other, and laughed at the previously unnoticed reference to the Lion King.

"Well, you know how Scrimgeour's hair is kind of mane like…" Hermione began explaining to Ron, at the same time distracting him so he wouldn't make such a fuss as she and Harry simply started to wander off the usual route to Dumbledore's office, and disappeared around the next corner.

* * *

Anna had been about to let Dumbledore in on the large secret that the entrance to his office wasn't an entrance at all, but a large stone eagle standing in an alcove. She stopped herself in time though, to remind herself of the age old lesson that not everything is what it appears to be. _'Take me for example. At first look you'd just think I was your average twenty year old… (Well, obviously not your average twenty year old. I'm way too good looking for that.)You'd never guess that I was a murdering, thieving, knife wielding psycho path with an alcohol problem. Yes, I know the first step is admitting it, and I have, but I still haven't found anything that taste's as good, and solves problems at the same time.' _

It was a statement to how quickly Anna accepted things, when her eyes didn't pop out of her head the moment the eagle in front of Dumbledore's office started to ascend and reveal a set of stairs, after he said 'Sherbet lollies'.

_'Well, it makes sense. Moving staircases, moving statue's…moving portraits. Does anything around this place stay still?'_

"Oh my god what is it with you people and stairs? I know magic is a lot more interesting than human technology…did I just say human? Anyway, my point is that this place could seriously benefit from an elevator or two…or twelve. No pressure, it's just something you might want to look into in the near future….Does anybody else feel that, or is it just me?" Anna questioned the group, after feeling the strange pull that was in fact the very thing that brought her to Hogwarts in the first place. The source of it was definitely in Dumbledore's office, she was sure of it, which is why she hustled Dumbledore into his own office, and was immediately distracted by the awe inspiring wonder she was filled with.

"Anna, is it a habit of yours to talk this much, or do you just do it when you get excited?" McGonagall's kind voice did nothing to distract Anna from turning around in circles in Dumbledore's office, but Anna found herself answering anyway.

"I don't know, no one's ever been around long enough to tell me." She didn't realize the questions this would have gotten other people asking, because she had just realized that she had finally made it to Dumbledore's office, and the reaction might as well have been the same as throwing a child into a toy store. She was glued to the very center of the room, not knowing whether or not to run towards the table full of gold…_things_, that were whizzing and twirling all by themselves, or over to the high shelves, where she was certain that she saw a hat with a face staring down at her. Her attention swayed toward the other walls that led towards a huge desk set against a giant window that showed the slowly descending sun, which were plastered with other moving portraits.

In the end, what finally won her over was a large glass cabinet, inside which held one of the most beautiful swords she had ever seen. Anna enjoyed knives, swords, darts…pointy things that did damage. Knives had the advantage that even if a pen knife is ten times smaller than a sword, it is a lot easier to throw and get a favourable outcome. What's the advantage of guns? There is none in her opinion, because some one always has a bigger one. _'And it is not fun to be caught on the receiving end of a Jackhammer shotgun...' _

Anna shuddered at the memory of walking down through a Chinese market district, when the Paladins finally made it clear to her that after 2 years, they were not playing games anymore. She was 12 years old, and had never seen so many dead bodies on t.v before, only to be surrounded by the howling screams of pain and terror as men, women and children on all sides of her ran screaming through out the streets. In all the hustle, she managed to get lose the Paladins...but she will never lose the memory of that night. It's one of the many memories she has that reminds her of why they aren't hunting her...she's hunting them.

The hilt of the long sword was encrusted with rubies the size of golf balls…_ 'Oh yeah, I might have forgot to mention, I have a thing for anything that looks like it might have been found in a pirate chest. Some people would call it treasure…I would call it 'mine'.'…_and it gleamed so brightly, the suns rays almost bounced off it and blinded her, which is what brought her mind out of the war zone she had almost lost herself in yet again.

"Ah yes, the sword of Godric Gryffindor…many a great things that sword has achieved." Anna didn't notice the wink in Dumbledore's eyes as he turned to stare at the small alcove behind his desk, before sitting down.

"If you would all care to sit your selves down anywhere you can find a seat." Anna reluctantly dropped out of her stupor, and Jumped over to the biggest armchair that had a small pouf in front of it, where she gladly popped her feet on. She looked up into the disgruntled face of Scrimgeour, who she wouldn't have guessed would have liked such a comfortable seat anyway. He was way too uptight, and serious, and she wasn't surprised when he chose the same hard backed chair that McGonagall did.

_'Besides, the pole he has sticking up his arse probably doesn't make it too easy to relax much anyway.'_

"You're going to have to move faster than that if you want to keep up with me Mufasa." She grinned cheekily over to him, before sighing and relaxing further back into the chair.

"Nick names aside, it is sheer laziness that prevented you from walking to the seat, or must you look for praise for everything you do?" Scrimgeour remarked to her, without even the manners to look over at her.

"A bit of both I suppose, but mostly because I didn't want any one else to get what I wanted. It only makes it better to find out that it doesn't get your approval." Hearing Scrimgeour's sigh of annoyance, Anna knew that she had had the last word, and relaxed back further in the chair again only to be reminded of just how damaged her clothes were. Seriously, she could have jumped up on a pole, and nobody would have given her a second look. Her tattoos were poking out through every ripped surface of clothing, something which she wasn't too happy about. While she loved her tattoos, they weren't for every one to see.

"Now, Dumbledore, would you care to explain to me why _she_ is still here?" Scrimgeour decided to begin.

"Did we not just have this conversation!" Anna groaned from somewhere on the armchair. Every time Sirius looked to the side of him, he could have sworn she was sinking further into the armchair.

"If everyone could please place the childish tendencies aside. We are all adults in this room; I suggest you start behaving like one's." Only Dumbledore could reprimand the Minister for Magic about his conduct, and get away with it.

"Now, Anna if you wouldn't mind recounting your tale. The tale of how you happened to end up in Hogwarts, right up until waking up in the hospital wing earlier this evening." Dumbledore leaned calmly back into his chair, and watched Anna from over his entwined hands.

"I can tell you, but I honestly don't even know what happened to have me end up here. And I don't trust him enough to explain why I don't know how I ended up here…" Anna jerked her head towards Scrimgeour, never moving her gaze from Dumbledore. She could have sworn she heard an agitated sigh from the back of the room, and was sure that if she put the effort into turning around she would have found that it came from Snape.

"Well, then Anna if you would just reveal what you feel like trusting every one with. Please." It wasn't pleading, and it wasn't begging. It was nice, for a change, to be asked to do something and be asked to do it with manners. If the Paladins had ever asked her to 'get down on the ground _please_', it still most definitely would not have worked, but it might have softened her up a bit to them and… ok no, it still definitely would not have worked.

"Ok, well bare in mind that I don't know how a lot of this happened, but I'll try to fill you in on the why along the way...Basically, I arrived at Miami Beach this morning, not expecting it to be as hot as it was, because believe it or not, I did not exit my house looking like an extra from a terminator film." She stopped to look at the blank faces staring at her.

"What's the bloody hell is a terminator film?" She stopped to notice that Sirius' Black looked oh so cute when he was confused..._'Focus Anna!'_

"Never mind...Anyway, after deciding that Miami was definitely not an appropriate place to be wearing a leather jacket and boots at this time of year, I went to find somewhere safe to Jump from when I heard the ruckus behind me, and knew that my day was just going to get worse. There was a group of Paladins sitting down, well no actually falling down, where I had just Jumped from, but that shouldn't have even have been possible, not unless they had a…" Anna's voice trailed off, as the puzzle pieces in her mind began to fit in together.

Why she saw _his_ face in the Paladins thoughts, why they've been able to find her, to track her.

"He was telling the truth..." She spoke to no one, but herself and gasped at how much more real things sounded when you said them out loud.

_'But he wasn't with them when they followed you on a wild goose chase across the globe?'_

"Not unless they had a what?" Well, at least she knew she had the room's attention. You could have heard a pin drop, but Anna's attention was focused somewhere entirely different. She stood up, and began pacing, something she hasn't done since she was a child, when she was trying to figure out a way to get her own way, yet again.

"Not unless they had another Jumper with them, which would explain how they could track me. If the other Jumper was accustomed to me, he'd be able to feel my pull across the globe…but it doesn't explain how they were able to follow me through the Jump Scars. You can't follow some one through a Jump Scar without physically touching a Jumper...I don't know how you managed to get through this morning..." Anna trailed off as she turned to stare at Sirius, studying him for a minute before turning away in frustration. None of this made any sense to her!

"Ugh! It doesn't even really matter how they can do it, it's the fact that they can that has just made my life ten times worse than it already was…wait what am I saying, my life is brilliant. It's just become a little more difficult than usual." Anna corrected herself, shaking her head at the nonsense she had just spoken, knowing somewhere within her that it was probably the biggest lie she was going to tell for the duration of the day.

"As I'm sure it probably is, would you kindly explain to the rest of us what 'jumping' is?" Scrimgeour turned to look at Anna with general interest. This question was safe for her to answer, as long as she didn't tell him the limitations of it. How on edge would he be if he thought that Anna could be following him behind his shoulder at any minute.

"The stunt's I pulled earlier, moving from the cabinet to the chair, taking your mutt for a swing on the chandelier. That's Jumping."

"How could a muggle learn how to apparate?" Scrimgeour's tone of suspicion was definitely directed at Dumbledore, and Anna found herself getting annoyed at the way the man was treating the older wizard, and she had no idea why.

Dumbledore was clearly able to take care of himself, he was principal of the school. He wasn't slow off the mark either, and it was pretty obvious from the respect everyone gives him that he is a force to be reckoned with. So why the irritation?

_'Because the man's been nothing but nice to you since you got here. Is it so bad for you not to want other's to be nice to him?'_

_'He's obviously after something though. Nobody could be that nice to some one, with out something else to gain in return…_'

Anna's inner battle went on for a few minutes while Dumbledore was filling the rest of the room in. Anna was about to learn that she could argue with herself, while listen to another argument at the same time. _'There is a reason why women are good at multi tasking. You can never trust the things men might say when they think your not listening…'_

"It's not apparition Rufus. Contemplate for a moment, as I have. This is Hogwarts, it is impossible to apparate into the grounds, without removing numerous spells and incantations before doing so. Secondly, apparition does not leave a 'scar' in the fabric of space, one could call it. No, I have a feeling that what we are witnessing right in front of our eyes is nothing less than evolution itself." Dumbledore then sat back to let the others mull this over in the heads for a few minutes.

It didn't 'mull' for very long.

"Evolution? Albus how is that even possible?" McGonagall questioned from her hard backed chair that was nearest to the wall.

"It's quite possible. Muggle's have gone so long without magic, yet most of them are subjected to it at least once in their life times, sometimes maybe even on a daily occurrence in certain communities. It was bound to take its toll someday, and I doubt that Anna here is the only 'Jumper' that exists. Would I be right Anna?" Dumbledore's question brought Anna's mind right back to where it had started, that she hadn't always been on her own.

"Not many that I know of. But a few…" She didn't care to elaborate on the number's, before Scrimgeour got a Paladin theory into his head and made it his life's ambition to exterminate all Jumpers, just because he had taken a dislike to her.

"Interesting, but it still doesn't explain why you ended up here, or the Ministry has a dead muggle to deal with!" Scrimgeour banged his fist on the table, without getting the desired result from anybody.

"Well if I knew how I ended up here, than I wouldn't still be stuck here with you, would I?" She refused to raise her voice, but said growled the last sentence at the Minister through gritted teeth. _'God, I really hate that man!'_

"Rufus, I believe you would agree with me, that it is human nature to defend ones self when one is being attacked. Accidents do happen in the muggle world as well, and I'm sure it wasn't Anna's intent to kill those men. Was it Anna?" Dumbledore's eyes told her that even if it was her intent (and it was) that now was not the right time to admit to it.

"Hardly. If you want to check, I'm sure you'll find one strolling somewhere around the Sahara, and I'm pretty sure there's another somewhere in the Amazon jungle…hence the ripped clothes and leaf riddled hair." That should do the trick.

"Be that as it may, parents won't be satisfied when they hear that the woman who killed a man in front of their children is going to stroll out of the school with nothing said but a 'thank you for dropping by'. Dumbledore, I've told you time and time again, we are on the same side but you have got to give me something to work with!" Scrimgeour's voice was turning slightly towards the desperate side now, and Anna was amazed at how genuine he seemed to be when asking the old wizard for help, just not in so many words.

"They will not be satisfied Rufus you are quite right. They may however, accept the unfortunate case of a young 'witch' whose magic hadn't established itself for unknown reasons until now. In it's uncontrolled state, it is a danger to herself and to others, which is why she will be welcomed into the school with open arms." Dumbledore turned to smile at Anna, who couldn't help but return it even though she didn't know why. The Minister was unable to form the right words, to let Dumbledore know how ridiculous he thought this was, and just found himself stuttering for a few seconds.

"Rufus, do you remember when you were a young boy, and something happened that made you absolutely terrified." The minister nodded his head at Dumbledore's question.

"What happened Rufus?" Dumbledore sounded like a psychiatrist that was pushing his patient towards the end point of treatment.

"Well, naturally, my magic went out of control, but I was only a child Albus, you can't compare-"

"Exactly Rufus, I cannot compare. You were only a child. Anna here is…" "Twenty." She answered Dumbledore's questioning gaze, as the old man chuckled to himself.

"I always find myself a little frightened when asking a woman her age…sometimes they seem to get a bit testy, and people almost always never get the right answer. Anyway, as I was saying Minister." And the old man went back to being serious again, all traces of laughter gone from his face.

"Anna here is twenty years old. How out of control would your magic be, had you not learned to control it all those year's ago right here, in this very school. Like it or not Rufus, this is a problem we may some day have to face, whether it be five years into the future, or fifty years into the future, if or indeed when, muggle's find themselves in increasing numbers to be possessing magic that is different than our own."

The whole of Dumbledore's office was silent for a moment, before the Minister stood up and started a staring contest with Anna that lasted for at least three minutes. Neither one of them backed down.

"Ok Dumbledore, you can have this little project and use your little lab rat. But I want weekly reports as to how she's getting on...And I want to know where she's going, when she's going and who she's going with. In fact, I don't want her to move unless I know about it first! The last thing we need is another psychopathic murderer running loose." At this he turned to Sirius, before heading towards the fireplace, followed by three other Ministry officials, who had already stepped into green flames that erupted in the huge fireplace.

"Rufus Scrimgeour's Office, Ministry Of Magic." He spoke as he threw a handful of powder into the fireplace… "And the rest of you, get back to work. That includes you Dawlish!" The minister roared at his lap dog, who made to follow him over to the fire place. With a crack, the Minister was gone.

Moments later, and the office was silent again after the trudging feet of the auror's that slumped out of Dumbledore's office and back to their designated posts around the school to fulfill their purpose of 'uselessness'.

"Is it just me, or does that man have a death wish?" Anna asked, still not having moved her eyes away from the fireplace.

"The minister has a lot on his plate at the moment Anna, he wasn't always as bull headed as he is now." Dumbledore let out a sigh, and finally let himself relax back into his chair.

"You should still treat everyone with respect, until they do something to lose it." Anna spat, before collapsing back down into the armchair she had inhabited earlier.

Dumbledore sat forward to contemplate her over his half moon glasses, the twinkle returned to his eyes and a slight smile on his face.

"Is there a reason as to why you are so wise beyond your years Anna?"

"Things tend to look different to you when you have to grow up fast." Anna could feel the cold feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach every time she thought about her past, and was glad that Dumbledore didn't press her for details.

"Anna, is there anyone you would like to contact? Anyone you would like to talk to, and inform of your safety or where abouts?"

"No thank you." Was all the information she was going to divulge about her personal life this moment.

"Ok then. Now, Anna as my favorite muggle saying goes 'let's not beat about the bush'. I'm going to make you an offer, but I am not going to ask you to decide now. I want you to take as long as you need, during which time you will be more than welcome to spend here at the castle." The room went silent once more.

"Anna, would you accept my offer of letting me work with you, to help you control your abilities, and see just how far you can push your limitations."

Anna stared at the man for a few minutes, before finally voicing the question she had been wondering all day.

"Why are you being so nice to me?...Not that I don't appreciate it!" She added hastily. "It's just that, I've been around…a lot. And from what I've learned from human nature, you don't be this nice to some one unless you have something to gain from it? I suppose what I'm really asking is, what could you possibly gain from me, that has you butting heads with the man who run's the wizarding show, and offer to put me up in the school where all of your students are going to hide in their cauldrons when they see me coming? What can I possibly do, that can be _that_ useful to you?"

"Anna, it may or may not be right of me to assume that in the time that you have 'gotten around' you have not met many nice individuals. However, that is neither here nor there, as I am not going to lie to you. There is something great you can offer to me Anna, not just to me, but something that will benefit people, magic or not, all across the country. First you may need a bit of training though. Before you ask me why, I suggest that you hold all the questions you have for me in your head, and come back here tomorrow and ask me them, all of which I will answer to the best of my ability. It's getting rather late, and dinner is approaching very quickly." Dumbledore himself had to admit that it was a fairly genius move he just made.

Anna had the ability to, and probably had, seen many of the interesting things the world had to offer, which only encouraged her seemingly inquisitive nature. The only thing was, is that she had experienced all this, from a non-magical point of view. After spending one night in an enchanted castle, Dumbledore knew that her eyes would only continue to grow wider at the thoughts of how many things she had missed out on the first time around, not being able to see them from a magical point of view, and secondly, how many places had she not known had even existed that from this moment on would be possible for her to travel to? Yes, Dumbledore had dangled quite a large bait in front of her, all he had to now was to wait and see if she would take it….and he had a suspicion that she would.

"I'm sure you already know this, but I have to tell you that you are a sly old fox Dumbledore." Anna chuckled to herself, while the rest of them looked at her with furrowed brow's, Dumbledore just smiled.

"Offer the most curious person in the world the chance to see magical things beyond her dreams that she didn't even know existed! What person in their right mind would turn that down? You have to understand, that I don't come to trust people easily, so I'm going to have to think it over. But when you answer my question's tomorrow, I will also give you an answer. And oh, by the way, I would very much like to take you up on your offer to spend the night here." She felt that she had to leave the room on a happy note.

"Anna, I would be delighted if you would." The old man smiled at her, and she couldn't stop herself from sending her a genuine smile of thank you back to him.

"Minerva if you would be so kind as to show Anna to a room, preferably in one of the guest room's that are located beside the Gryffindor common room. Those quarters have only one other guest, and it is not an auror, or ministry official, which I think would be a wise move." Dumbledore sighed and fell back into his seat once more, as Snape and Lupin took their cue to leave also.

"Who's the other guest?" Anna asked McGonagall curiously, only to feel a presence beside her, and look up into the storm grey eyes of a certain man god.

"Me." Was all Sirius Black's husky voice had to say to send a shiver down her spine, as she thought about the perks of sharing 'quarters' with him.

_'This might not be such a bad idea after all A.' _Her inner voice gloated to itself. Leaving the Dumbledore with an Oscar Winning smile, Anna turned and exited the headmaster's office, followed by Sirius Black who turned to give the Headmaster a sly wink...or was it aimed at the headmaster?

"I believe it's quite safe for you three to come out now…" Dumbledore said to the three teenager's hiding underneath an invisibility cloak behind his desk, when he heard the stone gargoyle move back into place to guard his office from Ministry ears. What he was about to say to the three teenager's, would be vital to making sure his plan that involved Anna succeeded in the months to come, and is was with a happy heart that he finally gave Harry Potter a task, that he knew would not lead him into too much danger...or so he hoped.

* * *

So I don't know if every one knows this saying or if it's just another one of the many Irish sayings we have but : '_she_ is not the cat's mother' is basically what you say to some one when they refuse to use your name...Probably didn't need to explain that.

As well, for those of you that are getting anxious about the whole lack of Siriusness, don't worry he's playing a bigger part in the next chapter! Thanks for reading :D x


	8. Keep The Feathers And Furs To A Minimum

Hey guys, sorry about the wait...again. I really did intend on getting back to it, but every time I signed onto here, I kept getting distracted by _LadySeradeRETURNS..._her stuff is class, I would seriously recommend checking it out.

On another note to _jkh1920_, I know I said I'd try and keep the cursing to a minimum, but I'm sorry. I failed...miserably I might add. I really hope it doesn't put you off :(

Reviews would be much appreciated :)

* * *

_But love is blind, and lover's cannot see- William Shakespear_e

_There were so many sounds surrounding me. In the distance I could hear the constant calming sound of the sea as its waves caressed the shore. I could hear the gentle breeze as it danced ahead of me, moving frayed jungle leaves into my path. My own laughter melted through the air along with the mischievous wind, and I could feel cool sand beneath my feet, as well as dry grass and tree roots. He never let me stub my toe though, always lifting me gently off the floor before I came to one._

_I was completely blind to everything around me, but I didn't need to use my eyes to be able to see him. I could feel him smiling down at me, the way he always would when he thought I wasn't watching. _

_His breathing was starting to pick up, and I knew he was starting to get excited, almost as excited as me. I used to love surprises, when I was with him. _

_I felt safe, with his arm wrapped securely around my waist, our fingers entwined over my stomach. He held my other hand in his own, a little way in front of me so that I could keep my balance. Not that I really needed to, he could lead me into the lion's den and I would go with him, without a care in the world. _

_"Will you please just tell me where we are going?" _

_"Well then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? Besides, you're almost there…" He bent down so he could whisper softly in my ear, his strong bare shoulder leaning against the skin on my back, warmth flowing through us both. He rubbed his rugged cheek against the sensitive skin beside my ear, and I shivered excitedly. _

_Once I was out of harms way of the many tree roots and broken rocks, he let go of my waist and moved around in front of me to pull me along. I could still feel sand beneath my feet, but it was getting harder, easier to walk on. His soft hands rubbed against my palms as he pulled me along impatiently, anxious to see my reaction._

_"Ok, we're here." He reached up and held my head between his hands, his soft fingertips caressing my cheekbones. His hands were always so soft. He began to place gentle kisses on my forehead, over both my covered eyes, all the while his scent washing over me from the sea breeze brushing against us. I can still remember the slight smell of coconut that always lingered beneath his scent of fire wood and salt water. _

_He kept placing the soft kisses all along my cheek, until he stopped at the smirking corner of my mouth. Slowly, so I could feel his hot breath against my warm cheeks, he leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on my pouting lips. _

_Slowly pulling away from my face, he turned to stand behind me and gently pulled the blindfold down from my eyes. _

_A rush of breath flew from my lungs as I looked out at the dark night sky. The moon was full and illuminated the small waves as they seemed to tease the shore by brushing slightly against it. The ocean was completely empty of everything, except for this small spit of land that was lost at sea, forgotten by the rest of the world. It was a starless night, with just the moon present to watch over us tonight, but I didn't mind. Looking down at my bare feet, I saw his footprints. _

_Any other soul on the earth would have thought that they were walking towards me, but that's only because I'm the only one who knew they appeared that way because he refused to ever walk away from me with his back turned._

_I kept my eyes on them the whole way up, not raising them until one of the less defined one's in the softer sand took on a warm orange glow. _

_The glow was coming from candle's, of all shapes, sizes and colours, that illuminated a small portion of the beach… all of them centering around a small fire that was crackling in the middle of the large circle of randomly placed candle's. _

_It was the most beautiful scene I had seen in a long time, and not only because it was just for me. Soon I was proved wrong, when he stood out from behind the fire, and everything just turned that bit more wonderful. His chocolate hair fell over his deep brown eyes, as he smiled his crooked smile. Half of the tanned skin on his body lit up with the warm glow from the fire, while the other half glowed slightly milky underneath the moonlight, barely escaping to the shadows. It was this hand that he extended to me, the paler one, as he beckoned me towards him._

_I did not need to be called twice._

_He walked out to meet me, and surprised me when he didn't reach in to cup my cheek and ignite a fire in me with his lips. Instead, he lifted my arm to his shoulder and began to sway me back and forth, the sound of the waves our music, the beating of our hearts our tempo, as we wove loose circles around the fire, him holding me close to him as if he were afraid I would be lost with the waves that were being dragged back out to the depths of the ocean._

_His breath ghosted over my face, as he leaned closer towards me. I could feel his hands gripping me closer, as we moved nearer to the calm fire, that crackled louder and louder as we began to sway dangerously close to it. I turned to look up at him, and felt him twirl me away, waiting for him to pull me back into his embrace. _

_But his hold only became weaker, and I looked up to see that he was being pulled away from me. "Anna!" he shouted my name, as I moved my hand out to grab his frantically searching one. I could tell by the way he called me, that he was more frightened for me, but it didn't matter. I was scared enough for the both of us._

_The beautiful island fell away from us, blackness encasing us on all sides, as he was being surrounded by flames on almost all sides. A wall a fire began stretching across in front of him, blocking him from my sight, yet I could still hear him shouting my name. _

_Every time I took a step closer to him, the flames drew nearer to him. I kept running, but it seemed that the distance between us had grown since we were dancing, and I knew that no matter how fast I moved, I would be too late. But what my mind had already realized, my heart had already denied, and my pace quickened. _

_My footsteps started to fall heavier and heavier, my breathing became more laboured and my vision began to go fuzzy, the heat rising from the flames blocking everything out, except for his frightened face. That remained crystal clear and untainted by the orange flames that began to lick their way closer to his body. _

_I could no longer see his legs, the wall of fire engulfing his hips and torso, and all too soon it was just his face that was desperately peeking out from behind the flamed prison. _

_I could still hear him shouting my name, as I took my final steps towards him and got ready to leap through the fire, when the fiery cage closed around him and grew to one hundred feet in the air, my screaming voice no comparison for the huge explosion that sent my body hurtling through the air-_

"NO!" Anna screamed, but instead of feeling the effects of a roaring fire across her sweating body and thick smoke clouding her lungs, the only thing that was choking her was the trembling sobs that she barely managed to contain inside her chest. She had cried over him enough, pathetic tears aren't going to bring him back…if he ever even really left?

_Of course he left, how could you doubt him like that? Had he not promised, had he not sworn to you that he would always find you, no matter what? _

_Had you not made that very same promise to him?_

_How else would you have seen him in the Paladin's mind? You can see that he's aged…even though it doesn't appear to have done him any favours. _

_Don't you just hate it when you start arguing with yourself?_

Betraying thoughts were battling with each other in Anna's head, and with her mind still racing over the dream of twisted memories still flashing through her mind, she could barely think straight.

Still, remembering the image she had of him, he really didn't look to great. Like he was still getting over a nasty sickness, his sallow skin was the total wrong colour, and his brown eyes…they didn't shine the way they used to, full of excitement. They seemed, for lack of a better word, manic and crazed.

_Yes, I know I only saw his face for like two seconds (in the mind of yet another deluded Paladin), but his face has been etched onto my brain…_

_"Everything looks different, when you view it through some one else's eyes A."_

_"Or maybe it only looks different, because you're afraid to admit the fact that if he never really left, then it must mean that he never really loved you, and all along you've been fooling your self into thinking that you would never be blinded by love. Such sweet irony, isn't it?"_

Silence for a few seconds, a brief shortness of breath followed by a pounding headache, and Anna was all but back to her normal self again. Well, almost normal._  
_

_Ok, fuck this shit. I desperately need a drink._

She hopped out of the bed…well, more like stumbled. The towel she was wrapped in could not have been twisted around her more awkwardly.

The reason for Anna being wrapped in a towel is not that she enjoys sleeping in one. After a much needed shower, it hadn't occurred to Anna that her clothes would still be smelly, ripped and let's face it, they were pretty much rags. In a moment of frustration after pulling yet another leaf out of her hair, she collapsed on the bed and found out just how comfortable it was…hence, falling asleep wrapped in a towel.

She stared in the mirror for the first time since she arrived here, and swore to God, she did not think it would be possible for her to look rougher than she felt right now. Her hair was still wet and waving everywhere, she was wrapped in a towel that barely grazed her thighs (sometimes being tall isn't all it's cracked up to be), and her cheeks were still flushed from that stupid dream…or nightmare. It started out good?

Anna heard a few muffled sounds entering into the living room, and dragged her attention away from the mirror ('_which is pretty hard, when you look as good as I do…even on a bad day'_), and placed her ear up against the heavy wooden door separating her from what sounded like a circus troupe entering the living room. The coffee table seemed like it could be about at least one hundred years old, and someone had just slammed their feet down on it.

'Well, dinner should be good fun." A young boy, late teen's she guessed was commenting.

"We should bring her down early, help her avoid all the staring and-" _Knock, knock, knock!_

"Fuck!" Anna stage whispered to her self, the three timid knocks on the door almost bursting her eardrums.

"Anna...?"Hesitant silence, no answer. "Would you like to come out and join us?" It was the girl, with the nice bushy hair. Hermione Granger, she was nearly certain that was her name. She was about to reach for the door handle, when she remembered that she had just been cut off eaves dropping on Remus Lupin and another boy, not to mention the fact that there were at least three other people out there of unknown gender…and her towel was at the present moment almost riding up her arse. On second thought…

"Eh, would you mind coming in actually?" She asked timidly, barely speaking above average; the girl was so close Anna could almost hear her nervous feet moving from side to side.

The door opened slowly, and Hermione Granger cautiously peered her head in through it, before looking at Anna and stepping the whole way in, leaving the door open a crack in case she needed to take a quick exit. The girl was slightly nervous around Anna, she was still polite enough to give her a smile, but not brave enough to break the silence.

"Hermione, right?" Anna asked.

"Yes." The girls eyes brightened a bit, the smile grew a bit bigger, more genuine but it still remained awkward, not really fully reaching her eyes. She had really nice teeth…

The silence stretched on for another few seconds before Hermione stole a glance to the door. Picking up on her hints, Anna backed away from her to give her more room, and sat back on the bed.

"I've only got this towel. I think some of my clothes have begun to disintegrate." Hermione followed Anna's gaze to the small pile of rags that were lying in a pile on the floor, complete with a few leaves sprinkled on top and some parts of the floor still covered in sand. Turning her attention back to Anna, Hermione had just registered the fact that the girl had no clothes, which was one of the reasons she came down in the first place.

"Oh yes, sorry! Here, I brought these down for you." The girl strode confidently towards Anna on the bed, no longer uncertain when she had an objective to fulfill. Reaching into the schoolbag she had at her side, she pulled out a denim strip that might cover the top half of her thighs…and a baggy orange t-shirt that said something about Cannons on it. Hermione's face was sympathetic right down to the t.

"I would have given you a pair of jeans and a shirt, but it probably would have ended up in you wiggling and stretching denim up over your thigh for the next twenty minutes or so and…" Silence and utter panic crossed Hermione's face, as she reached out to Anna without actually touching her. "N-Not that I'm calling you fat…actually your_ far_ from it, it's just that you're a lot taller than me, and most of my tops would have left you looking like you'd bought them in the children's section…even though they probably would have fitted you across the chest. Oh, Merlin I so did not mean to comment on your boobs…I have small boobs too and…What?" Hermione ramblings ended in confusion, when she finally managed to look up for her flaying hands, and watched Anna lie back on the bed, wiping tears from her eyes, holding her stomach with one hand and barely managing to keep the towel up over her 'small boob's' while her legs kicked the bed furiously.

"I'm…I'm…Ha! I'm sorry, it's just that was pretty fuckin' funny Hermione! You seriously need to chill out though. I swear, if you weren't so nervous a few minutes ago, I thought you might have brought me these clothes on purpose to try and make me look like a complete arse!" By now, Anna wasn't the only one who was getting over her laughter, and Hermione had made her first no doubt, real deal genuine smile.

"Oh please, I think you accomplished that feat on your own when you turned up wearing half the forest in your hair." Hermione forgot herself, and let go around the girl she had just spoken to for the first time five minutes ago. She clapped her hand around her mouth, about to say sorry, when Anna cut across her.

"Excuse me, but even Naomi and Giselle would find it hard to pull off the 'just crawled out of a bar brawl' look with as much class and dignity that I did. Speaking of hair, can you see any twig's left in there?" Anna bent her hair down and shook her mane of wavy brown hair, still expecting to see sand fall into her lap.

"No, I think you got it all. Anyway, I'm going to let you get changed so you can come out and talk to us. I'll just be outside in the living room." Hermione smiled and walked out the door with a retreating smile.

* * *

"Didn't take you long to break the ice." Ginny piped up from the couch facing Anna's room, furthest from it as well. Like a set of domino's set off by Ginny's comment, one by one the heads of Harry, Ron, Lupin and Sirius turned around off the couches set in a circle around the antique coffee table, to see a red faced Hermione smiling and shaking her head to herself, while gently closing the door to the mysterious girl's room.

The heads followed her as she sat down on the couch where Ginny had made room for her, all of them leaning forward, except for Sirius and Remus, who learned long ago that when girls laughed alone amongst themselves, men usually had no desire to know why. Teenage laughter had followed Sirius since he got back to the castle, and ego boosting as it was (not that he really needed it); Sirius was actually contemplating getting up early to go to the library. It was a thought process that required a lot of weighing out of pro's (no danger of being slipped amortentia) and con's (getting up early).

"Oh, I thought I stuck my foot in it there and- Oh, Ginny we forgot to bring her shoes!" Hermione turned to the other girl in the room, looking thoroughly disappointed. She just remembered that the poor girl had been walking around the castle bare foot.

"Does she not have her own shoes?" Ginny asked doubtfully, still thinking Hermione was a bit flustered.

"I wouldn't bring that up if I were you." Lupin spoke up from the couch, and turned to see Sirius smirking to him self; no doubt the image of a black heeled boot soaring at Snape would be stored in the front of his memory forever.

"I'll be right back." Hermione jumped up off the couch and left the room without a second glance, closing the portrait hole behind her just as the door of Anna's room opened.

She walked out with a highly un-amused expression on her face. The Chudley Cannons t-shirt she wore reached almost reached the hem of the denim skirt she wore. Seeing no point on waiting on the side lines, she strode and sat down in the empty space beside Ginny, poised very uncomfortably on the edge of the couch, should any one see up the small piece of material covering her legs.

"Is that my t-shirt?" Ron asked curiously from the couch beside her and Ginny, staring at the small hole in the sleeve that was the result from a particularly vicious garden gnome clawing at him.

"Ronald, who else is going to have a Chudley Cannons t-shirt? Of course it's yours; Hermione gave them the clothes to her." Ginny rolled her eyes towards the boy.

"I knew I brought that with me, didn't I tell you-"

"I take your brother and sister, yeah?" Anna asked, drawing the red head's attention to her. She really wasn't in the mood for listening to family banter.

"Yes…what gave it away?" Ginny asked sarcastically, laughing towards Anna at the same time.

"The way you rolled your eyes." Anna smiled at the pair of them, her bottle green eyes brightening up for moment. Sirius wondered if he were the only one to notice the melancholy that entered them for the moment that it did.

"Oh, I was actually talking about our hair. I'm Ginny, by the way." The flame haired girl smiled at Anna, as she reached out to shake her hand. Anna reached forward, and noticed that the girl had a good firm handshake. A good handshake can tell a lot about a person.

_'A nice, firm handshake Anna, and always look em' in the eye. Don't trust some one with a limp handshake, it means he's dodgy as fuck. And be wary of someone that crushes your hand, cause that means the prick is overcompensatin' for somethin'…and for Christ' sake, don't tell your Ma I cursed in front a ya, or she'll have my guts for garters.' _

She still remembered hanging on every word of her uncle Colm's advice, and remembered the excitement of waiting with him in the pub after mass every Sunday, so that after she was allowed to make her own drink, he'd lift her off from her seat on the bar, and carry her on his shoulder's up to her Grandmother's house, swaying from left to right when he got nearer the house, just to frighten her mother. Everyone always went to Sunday dinner in her Grandparent's house…or else.

"I already know you Anna…I think the whole school does, but don't worry about that. That's Ron, and Harry, and you probably were introduced to Remus. I know you know Sirius by now." Ginny laughed to herself, wandering where Sirius' late night fire whiskey sessions were going to take place, now that he had a room mate.

Anna smiled at them all, having met them already and still quite anxious to go so that she could call to Frankie, and get sorted out with some decent clothing.

"Where'd Hermione go?" Anna asked

"Oh, she's gone to get you some shoe's I think?" Ginny couldn't have known the irritation that Anna felt at having her new favourite shoe's destroyed, and her next question came out rather bluntly.

"Her shoes probably won't fit me."

"Oh, she can resize them…magic remember?" Ginny waved her wand mischievously in Anna's eye line, and gave the girl a thought.

"You can do that? Any chance you could lengthen the belt I'm currently wearing?" Anna asked skeptically, not expecting it to be that easy. Hermoine was a few inches shorter than her, and right now it was really obvious with the skirt length. The leather couches were far too tempting to relax in, and it was annoying her.

"No problem. Stand up." Ginny smiled and pulled the girl up, eager to show her all the things magic could do. This is exactly the kind of things that Harry had told her they needed to do…

"Ok, now stand still." Ginny stood in front of her, and pointed the wand at her skirt. Over Ginny's back, she saw Harry give Ron an anxious glance, and watched the girl's brother just shake his head, and lean further back into the couch. Lupin and Sirius seemed to be deep in conversation about something, and Anna could have sworn she heard the word 'whiskey' in there somewhere, which immediately drew her attention away from Ginny.

It wasn't long before Anna realized that instead of becoming longer, the skirt was sliding up her thighs and tightening along the way. It wasn't until Ginny stood, spread eagled and blocking her from the boys' view, that she knew that had gone wrong.

"Boys, I think you should head into Sirius' room. Now." Ginny didn't even turn around and started twirling her wand in the opposite direction, but nothing was happening, and Anna was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that Ron's t-shirt was now covering more of her legs than the skirt was.

"What Ginny, did you mix up the-"

"Get out Ronald!" If Ginny's hair had gone up in flames, it wouldn't have tipped the scales much in favour of how commanding the girl could be, such was the reaction in the room when not one of the boys (or men) hesitated in making themselves scarce, exiting into the only other bedroom in the guest quarters. If Anna wasn't so scared for her self right then, she would have been giving the girl a smile of admiration. Instead, she was thinking about reaching out and strangling the girl herself.

"What the fuck did you do?" Anna asked, terrified her blood circulation was going to be cut off.

"Hold on, I'm fixing it, don't panic." Easy for her to say, when she wasn't hopping from foot to foot trying to pry open a shrinking button. Anna was frantically grabbing at the zipper, Ginny slapping her hand out of the way occasionally, until Anna's movements became so constricted that she could no longer balance, and she fell backwards onto the couch.

"Oh, sod this!" Ginny threw her wand across the couch and started tugging at the hem of the denim skirt. Anna kept pushing and Ginny kept pulling, yet to no avail the skirt was barely shimmying down, and soon the two were panting.

With groan's of frustration and effort and anger, Ginny finally took a deep breath, placed two feet up on either side of Anna's legs on the edge of the couch and pulled on the skirt with both hands, at the same time Anna arched her back up into the air and Ginny fell, arse first onto the coffee table, it's antique legs having taken as much as it could and giving way underneath her.

She fell onto the floor with a painful thud. "Ouch…that's going to bruise tomorrow." She moaned, collapsing back onto the floor. Both girls were panting, and it wasn't until the pair of them looked up to see the scrap's of skirt that Ginny held in both hands that they started hysterically laughing.

Ginny had just demolished an antique table, was still sitting amongst the remnant's holding on to both halves of Hermione's skirt in her hands, while Anna lay across the couch, her feet kicking up and down in the air, clad only in a Chudley Cannons jersey ( _'who ever the fuck they are?_), and batman knickers.

"Oh Ginny…I really liked that skirt." Both girls looked up to see Hermione throwing a pair of flip flops on the floor, and stamping her foot, before they burst into hysterics again.

"Ginny, is everything alright out there?" The concerned voice of Harry spoke out from inside Sirius' bedroom. Not even turning towards the door, Ginny waved off her hand in the direction and shouted "Yes, fine. Stay where you are!"

Anna let out a long sigh, her worries all but forgotten since she woke up this morning. It had been a long time since she laughed that hard while not under the influence of alcohol, and the fact that it wasn't in the slightest way a boy situation made it even better. She already liked these girls, so far.

Turning towards Ginny, she reached her hands down and both girls helped each other up. She held onto the red head's hand and turned to face a disgruntled Hermione.

"Come on, I'll find you a new one at Frankie's." She was excited to go and see her old friend; she needed one of his hugs…and one of his cocktails.

"Who's Frankie?" Ginny asked excitedly, still holding onto the older girl's hand.

"My business partner. Come on, you'll love him." Getting impatient now, she started shaking her hand in Hermione's direction, waiting for the girl to get a move on.

"You're going to take us by Jumping? Is that safe?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"How do you know what Jumping is?" Anna asked suspiciously. She stared at Hermione for a moment, before realizing that Sirius or Remus must have filled them in.

"Actually, I don't really care how you know. Of course your safe, you're with me." Anna answered Hermione as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

"Somehow, that's not very reassuring…"Hermione thought hanging around Anna was about as safe as telling professor Snape where to shove it…basically, you should probably be prepared to make a quick exit.

"Fine. I suppose Ginny can pick out a replacement Givenchy skirt for you…or a bag…or a coat. I hear the new Chloe purses are pretty cute too, even though I haven't seen them yet myself…You ready?" Anna turned her dreamlike gaze away from Hermione, and turned to Ginny who looked like a child that was getting to sit in the passenger seat for the first time.

"Wait!" Hermione practically leapt towards them, grabbing Anna's hand. "Givenchy, as in French Givenchy? You're taking us to France?"

"Oh us, is it now….Are we going to France." Anna scoffed jokingly at Hermione. "Of course we're going to France Hermione, don't be so ridiculous. I'm in desperate need of some attire for the next day and a half."

"Oh come on, Hermione, live a little!" Ginny practically pleaded with the girl, who had been completely sold since the minute she heard they were taking a new form of transport, but had just needed a bit of enticing.

"Okay…but we can't be more than twenty minutes. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Sure, no bother." Hermione's reminder fell on deaf ears. Being back for dinner would be the last thing on Hermione's mind once she was introduced to Frankie.

In all the commotion that had been going on, and the lack of attention on the girls' part towards anything but persuading Hermione to come with them, none of them had heard Remus Lupin's voice calling out to them from Sirius' bedroom, where all the boy's were getting a bit restless and irritated listening to Ron's complaints of being 'three minutes away from starvation'…even though dinner wouldn't be ready for another half hour.

"Girl's, we should start getting a move on. The hall will be filling up soon, and you probably want to show Anna around." Still hearing chatter going on from outside in the living room, Ron shoved him self up off the end of Sirius' bed and moved around Lupin.

"Sod this, I'm bloody starving." Thinking with his stomach instead of his brain, yet again, Ronald Weasley opened the bedroom door, just in time for the four occupants of Sirius' room witness the three girls holding hands over the demolished antique coffee table, before they vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving no evidence of them selves behind accept a shimmering piece of air.

* * *

"Ok guy's stay down for a few seconds." Anna grabbed both girls' shoulders, and held them firm to keep them down. They were standing behind a clothes rack filled with a mass of mink fur coats. A light tinkering was going on somewhere around the room, but the girls were cornered between a blank white wall, animal skins and Anna.

"Frankie!" She shouted out excitedly, still crouched down.

"Ah, Mon cher amour, où avez-vous été?" * The excited voice of a French man could be heard in the distance, the opening of a door and silence followed for a few minutes.

"Frankie's a bit…eccentric shall we say. Just a few pointers. There's really no point in saying no to him, it's one of the many word's that doesn't exist in his vocabulary. Try and keep up with him…but don't try too hard, even I get lost with his craziness sometimes. Don't go for a fail safe of smile and nod, he'll see through it and you'll become just another piece of living plastic to him, resulting in you walking up and down the shop for a minimum of two hours with clothes being pulled on and off you every four minutes. And for the love of God, under any circumstances please do not mention Johnny Depp, or we'll be here until next February." Anna looked up to see the tense faces of the two girls, and knew that she'd be throwing them life lines for the next who knows how many hours.

"But he loves English girls, so you should be ok." She felt the need to add when she saw Hermione biting her lower lip, and couldn't tell whether or not it was from fear, or excitement.

"Il est sûr, baby!" * The fur coats were separated from the middle, and Anna hopped up to go and greet the man that was running across the store like a fairy.

"Anna, what does he mean by its safe?" Hermione whispered under her breath.

"Oh, wonderful you speak French. Don't worry he's just turning off the security camera's. Just in case someone come's snooping by, it's best if I don't get caught here. Frankie, I've brought a few friends along." Anna pulled the two girls up off the floor and through the rack, dragging them along with her.

They were in a huge, all white studio. Rails upon rails stretched along every wall, maximum of six pieces of clothing per rail. Pine hardwood floors ran up the length of the shop, and in the middle a plush red carpet ran the whole way from the back of the shop in front of an all white counter top to a high black podium that stood two feet away from a bridal style mirror. Tables filled with every kind of heel imaginable littered the shop in random places, and glass cabinets filled with huge gemstone rings and bold statement necklaces. Stepping out from a door beside the mirror was a bald, clean shaven man, with the most excitable green puppy dog eyes anyone has ever seen. A checkered green scarf was wrapped around his neck, and he was dressed in all white with a tight wife beater top and white trousers. Even the sunglasses resting on his head were white rimmed, and he had silver rings on every finger.

He hurdled through the shop, attacked Anna with a bear hug, and the two of them stuck to each other like glue to paper. They pulled back and gave each other two pecks on the both cheeks and one on the lips, before both bent forward and smacked the others ass.

" 'Ello darling's! I am Francois Morgan, and I will make proper introductions in one moment, but first I 'ave to sort 'zis,' zis…train wreck out!" He waved over Anna's head to Ginny and Hermione, who were standing somewhat awkwardly a few feet behind Anna, leaning against a table full of shoes. He looked Anna over, and dramatically turned his face away and covered his eyes.

"Darling, please, I can tell by zee way you still look beautiful even with your hair flattened at zee back zat you 'ave not been 'aving a good day. But Anna, darling, zere is just no excuse for 'zis thing you are wearing. Please, take 'eet off now, I cannot bear to look at you like zis! Now, go and find some nice clothes for your self, and I will take care of our guests." And with that, he all but ripped the t-shirt up over her head and smacked her ass until she was walking in the other direction towards the lingerie.

She truly felt sympathy for the girls, especially when she heard the squeal of delight that let her know that Frankie had just found out the girls were English. Pulling down a new black lace bra and matching thong from the rack, she pulled them on from behind the rails whilst listening to Frankie chatter on to the girls, pulling them through the shop and no doubt asking them about whether or not they thought the Queen could do with adding a little 'razzle dazzle' to her outfits. Anna used that word once around him, and has regretted doing so ever since.

"Frankie, I am in desperate need of a drink!" She called out, while pulling a pair of light denim jeans on.

"White wine, or the Anna special?" He asked deviously, and she could already hear the cocktail mixer going, her answer already anticipated by him.

"Be generous with the rum measure's, it's been a rough day!" She was still scanning through the racks, looking for something to pull on over her bra.

"Oh, don't I just know. Do you know girls, 'zat I 'ave been on my feet all day long. I swear, finding a good assistant, it's just impossible anymore! I might as well run 'zee store, all by myself!"

"Oh Frankie, poor you having to run your own store, by your self! What happened to Peter, he was nice?" Anna gave up looking for a shirt to wear in favour of getting to the bottom of the cocktail glass that was waiting there for her.

Frankie was carrying two glasses towards Hermione and Ginny, who were looking at it suspiciously, and pranced back over to the counter to grab a drink for him self and Anna.

"Oh, Peter. Yes, well 'ee was nice to look at, but 'zat is about as far as it went Anna. No, I gave up on 'eem. Now, hurry along dear, because if we are going out, I will need to go home soon and get ready." He made his way around the counter and began pulling things off racks, holding them up against Hermione and Ginny and throwing bit's and pieces into their arms every few minutes.

"Sorry babe, but it's not going to be that long of a visit this time. I've got some…business to take care of, but before I could go and do that, I was in desperate need of a wardrobe for the next couple of days. So I picked up on the perfect chance to come and visit one of my favourite people in the world. Not that I need an excuse to visit the only other place about as sane as Wonderland."

"Ok, first of all, I am your only favourite person in 'ze world. Secondly, usually I would shout at you, but I don't want to make zat hair curl more 'zan 'eet already needs to. I will make up a special wardrobe for you. Thirdly, why are you two still standing zere? Start changing. Zat colour of jade will look fabulous on you Ginny dear. Hermione, zere is a topaz ring in 'zat cabinet over there, come, I show you." He grabbed Hermione's hand while Ginny came over and stood beside Anna. Hermione looked desperately over her shoulder at the two, not given a choice whether or not to follow, she was dragged along.

"Eh, Anna. I don't have any muggle money with me and-"

"Ginny, I'm only going to say this once so don't argue with me, or else I'm leaving you here at his mercy. When you're with me, never be concerned about money. It's the getting home in one piece part that you should always focus on. Now hurry up and change before he turns around…and if you're not going to drink that give it here." Anna shooed her along, and grabbed the cocktail out of her hands.

"Oh, and Frankie, I need casual wear, so please, keep the feather's and fur to a minimal."

"Oh, you're so boring!" He shouted over at her, while picking random piece's from among the racks and throwing it into large white paper bags. He had three full bags surrounding his feet at the moment, and he still had yet to leave his denim section. She seen him sneaking a few leather pieces from the rails behind him, when he thought she wasn't looking.

"Ginny and Hermione go and look in the lingerie section. I just got two new corsets in today, 'zay are to die for!"

Leaving the two girls to their hushed voice's, Anna looked up to see the things they were delicately peeling off and made her way around to the back of the counter while pulling on a pair of gladiator sandals with short peacock feather's attached on the zip…never one to do things by half, was Frankie. Rooting around the documents, she seen a loan application lying underneath a pile of silvery latex fabric…god only knows what he's using that for.

Pulling the application out, she recognized Frankie's hand writing and noticed that he was applying for a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar loan…or so he thought until she got through with him. Still holding it in her hand, she made her way over to him where he was vigorously searching through black peep toes that Anna definitely would not need in the immediate future.

"Frankie, what's this for?" Anna started tapping her foot beside the man.

"What's what for? Oh yes, it's nothing Anna, put it away."

"Frankie, its two hundred and fifty thousand dollar's. This money is in the shop's account, why are you getting a personal loan? And don't you dare lie to me." She stared his green puppy dog eyes down until he shrugged and dropped the bag on the floor. There was nothing that this man didn't share with Anna; he was always happy (one of the reasons why she loved him so much) and the fact that he was hiding something as big as this from her hurt her in ways that she couldn't comprehend.

"Fine. But 'zere was a good reason for me keeping 'zis from you. You know Marie, my sister?" And there he went with the hands waving all around the shop.

"Yes, the one with the gorgeous kids?"

"Yes, Amelie and Pierre…you know I'm getting 'zem to walk down my runway in spring. I've been thinking about starting a kids line, Amelie is very inspiring…she has her uncle's fashion sense." Frankie drifted off at this point, already thinking way too far ahead for himself. Frankie doesn't do future planning very well.

"Well, my sister's useless husband left her last month. He's a very powerful politician, and he's fighting for full custody for Amelie and Pierre. He 'as a lot of influence, and when 'zey married Marie quit her job to stay at home wit 'zee children. She doesn't think she will come out of 'zee divorce with as much as she should, and is refusing to stay in one of 'ees 'ouses…arrogant prick. 'Ee was cheating on her you know!"

"On Marie? No way!" Anna would never begin to understand men like Marie's husband. I mean, that woman was stunning! And from what she'd heard from Frankie, Marie had probably never said no to that man once in her entire lifetime.

"Well, Marie doesn't think he was, but why else would 'ee leave my sister? She's fabulous, some…pardon my language darling, but some whore must have swallowed him in. Anyway, as you know her children are my sister's life, Anna, she cannot lose 'zem. That bastard say's 'zat 'ee can afford better education and provide a better lifestyle for 'zem…which is probably true, but 'ee is never around to see 'zem. So, I am going to hire Marie a ruthless lawyer, and her and 'zee children are moving in with me, until she gets back on her feet." A brilliant plan, accept for the fact that Frankie would be paying the bill's back through his arse for the next twenty years. Anna barely needed a moment to think about it.

"Where's your phone, Frankie?" she turned around and started walking towards the counter, Frankie running after her.

"No, Anna I did not tell you because I knew you would do this. You 'ave already done so much for me, 'zey are my family I can look after 'zem." He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her around. There wasn't a hint of anger, or pride, or any other bull shit that was useless right now in his eyes. She could see no reason why he wouldn't let him do this for her, and frankly, he was making her angrier than she already was.

Grabbing his hand and pulling them to her, she clutched Frankie's shoulder and looked into his eyes again.

"Frankie, you are my family, my priority, which makes Marie and the kids my priority too. Where would I be without you? Who else can I call to at 7 o' clock in the morning, and not be asked stupid questions but still be allowed to cuddle up and sleep away my sorrows. This is so much more important than a spring line, or new studio. You have done so much more for me than I have ever done for you. And please…you know that if I set it up, there is absolutely no way she is going to lose those kids. They deserve to be around a mother who loves them." You always had to finish on a humorous note with Frankie; he can get very sensitive sometimes when he's stressed. After her final sentence, of course, he knew why she wanted to do this so much.

"Your not going to do anything illegal are you?" He asked, worried for the fate of his niece and nephew's father.

"Well, I wasn't planning on it, but now that you mention it…No. Marie deserves to see the look on his face when she takes everything from him. Come on, grab the phone." The pair of them made their way over to the counter, where Hermione and Ginny were standing around anxiously.

"Anna, we really need to go. We're late for dinner, and we ran off without telling them where we were going. They're going to be so worried." Hermione was biting her bottom lip again, while Ginny was much more relaxed and just lounging against the counter, taking occasional sips from the cocktail glass, only eyeing the clock every couple of minutes.

"No bother, we're going now I just need to make one quick phone call." By the time she turned away from the girls, Frankie already had the portable hand set out, and Anna scanned through it for the accountant she used for all her business venture's with Frankie…or more like, the accountant she used for the sole purpose of making sure Frankie never needed anything. She turned the phone onto loud speaker and set it down on the desk, with one arm around Frankie, reassuring him.

"Hello Ms. Greystone, how are you doing?" An American man answered after the second ring.

Anna: Hey John, I'm great. And how many times do I have to tell you its Sophie. It's only Ms. Greystone when I'm mad with you. Which is never.

John (laughing down the phone): Yes Sophie. What can I do for you?

Anna: John I have a problem. One of my friend's is going through a nasty divorce. A real wise guy politician, influence all through out the government…basically, the girl's walking on thin ice. I need a shark. A real ruthless, devious piece of work, you know what I'm saying?

John: I know the perfect person. Ivanka Milosevic. If you don't want to worry about a thing, she's the one to call. She's not cheap though Sophie I have to say.

Anna: Don't worry, any money you need take it out of one of my account's, and put it into the French one. That's what's going to be paying for everything. Tell me though, is she the best?

John: She was the one that coined the phrase, 'Don't get mad, get everything' for Ivana Trump back in 1990.

Anna: Wonderful. Listen, it's for Frankie, you know the other account holder. His sister is going through a nasty divorce over here in France. Get on the phone to her, and give her whatever she wants, in whatever hotel and…just give her whatever she wants. I won't be here for a while, so next time you ring you'll be talking to Frankie on this phone, yeah?

John: No problem Sophie. I'll call you on the Tokyo phone sometime in the next two week's about the stock trade, yeah?

Anna: Sure no problem, if I don't answer, just do whatever you think is right. In fact, it's highly unlikely that I will get your message soon enough, so you can call it if I don't ring back about twelve hours after, OK?

John: Ok, I'll talk to you soon. Bye Francois.

Frankie: Goodbye, Monsieur John.

"Well, now. You see, I told you I'd get everything sorted. Girl's grab your bag's we can go now." Anna put the phone back down and turned towards her teary eyed friend.

"Oh, Mon amour, what would I do without you?" He pulled her in for a hug, before pushing her off and throwing seven overflowing bags into her arms.

"No Frankie…what would I do without you?" She winked at him and turned to the girls.

"Ladies, where are your 'zings?" Frankie turned around to see the girls standing there, empty handed.

"Mr. Morgan-"

"Ah, what did I say!" Frankie interrupted Hermione.

"Frankie. We really can't accept all these beautiful clothes off you. It cost's way too much to be giving away."

"Girls, 'at most you ave three outfits each. Don't be so ridiculous. Besides do not talk to me about cost? 'Ave you seen what 'zis woman 'as just done for me? Any friend of Anna's, is a friend of mine. But seeing as you are both English ladies, you too are now my friends. Now pick up your bags, before I beat you with 'zem!" He scolded the two girls, before pulling them in for hugs and kisses.

"Now, you take care of yourself. And check in sooner next time. I was getting worried for a while." Hermione and Ginny heard the real worry that Frankie had for Anna when he pulled her in for a tight hug, and they knew that he must know a lot more about her troubles than they did.

"Ok, I will. Love you."

"I love you more, you harlot!"

"Tramp" Anna turned around and started pulling the straps of the bags up along her arms, so that her hands were left free, and she motioned for Hermione and Ginny to do the same.

"Slut"

"Queen." Frankie feigned shock at this, and with a wink, he was left behind in France, while the girls landed, exhausted back in the Gryffindor guest quarters.

"Oh, decided to check in I see." Hermione and Ginny dropped Anna's hands immediately at the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice and tapping foot.

Anna looked up to see a semi-circle of Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, three more men in robes that she had never seen before, and Sirius Black, all staring at them as if they were about to eat them alive.

There's a certain word used in situations like this. Knowing the situation seemed serious enough, but having no intention on listening to a lecture about how she spent her time, Ginny kindly took the liberty to utter the words for Anna instead.

"Fuck."

* * *

Ok so yeah sorry guys, I bitched out on the whole French thing and used google translater. Yes I do know than ninety percent of the time, it's probably wrong, but if anyone know's the right way of saying * _My love, where have you been? _Or *_ It's safe _in French then please, feel free to let me know.

Also, I would be highly grateful for any reviews you feel like dropping off.

X


	9. The First Sign Of Madness

_If I'd observed all the rules, I'd never have got anywhere – Marilyn Monroe_

"Ms. Weasley, you are in enough trouble already, I suggest you do not add to it with the use of vulgar language." Professor McGonagall could not have used more clipped tones when she spoke to Ginny as she stared her down, almost daring her to answer back.

For the life of her, Anna could not understand why the tension in the room was so…for lack of a better word, tense. Lupin stood beside McGonagall, staring at the three of them with a mixture of anger and disappointment on his face, you'd believe the girls had just told him that they single handedly managed to get Christmas cancelled for the entire world. McGonagall…well, her feelings were pretty clear.

There were three red headed young men dressed in…would you believe it, more robes! Didn't see that one coming did you? There was no doubt in Anna's mind that they were Ginny's older brothers, two of them definitely being twins. They seemed to relax in the past few seconds since she and the girl's arrived back.

And then in the corner of the couch, no bother on him what-so-ever, was Sirius Black, cool as a cucumber and leaning back into the couch with his feet up on the newly repaired table, a glass of amber liquid in his hand.

_'Note to self: Sirius Black has an alcohol stash somewhere.'_

Apparently, he didn't know what the big secret was about concerning why every one was so mad, or else he didn't seem to really care. Anna was going with the latter on this matter, as she could feel Ginny and Hermione standing stock still behind her, they almost seemed as if they were afraid to breathe. Turning to the side, she noticed that both girls had taken a few steps back, getting out of the line of fire so it seemed. Judging by McGonagall's flared nostrils; it wouldn't surprise Anna if the woman started spouting fire from them any time soon.

"Did it not occur to either of you, that leaving this school alone could hold unthinkable dangers for all of you?" McGonagall's eyebrows were slowly descending from her hair line.

"I'm sorry professor. We just got caught up in the moment, and we didn't think and-" Hermione's voice was starting off rambling, until she got cut off by Lupin.

"That's exactly the problem Hermione. You didn't think. You ran off and left us all here, worried sick wondering where you were? Harry and Ron had to be sent to the Great Hall, just so they couldn't sneak off and go looking for you in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, places they thought you'd go to…judging by your purchases, I assume they would have been wrong." Lupin kept cool, calm and collected while he kept going full steam ahead with delivering the guilt trip. His eyes were angry and upset… in the end he just lowered his head at the in disappointment.

_'Jesus, I didn't even do anything wrong and he's making me feel bad.'_

"Ms. Granger, I would have expected better from you. Not only as Head Girl are you meant to lead the rest of the younger student's by example, you knew the danger you were putting yourself in outside this school without supervision. Did you even think to inform Anna about the danger you could have blindly lead her into? Your birth status is well known to the wizarding community…as is both your relationship's with Mr. Potter. You could have easily been kidnapped…or worse, 'disappeared'. I trust both of you know the seriousness of this situation, leaving the school grounds without permission is a very"-

"Whoa, hold on a second. 'The seriousness of the situation'? We were gone for half an hour, at most! What do you mean the seriousness of the situation?" Anna interrupted McGonagall, who didn't look in the least bit impressed, and had yet to start speaking again, most likely due to the fact that she was in shock that someone had spoken over her.

The professor had irritated her with the comment about being 'blindly' lead into danger…please, you could blindfold danger, and it would still find Anna underneath a mountain of trouble. And besides, she doesn't get 'lead' anywhere…she's been stumbling along her own thorny path quite successfully for the last ten years, thank you very much.

The sarcasm was almost dripping from Anna's voice, but she found herself softening the tone of it when she turned to Lupin…something about him told her that he didn't deserve the stress of it right now, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

That being said, she wasn't going to let any of them think that she was going to stand for this bullshit.

"And what is with the guilt trip? You'd swear they went out fucking bounty hunting or something!"

"And where exactly did you take my sister?" The oldest of the red head's spoke up, mildly irritated to say the least. His arms were crossed against his broad chest, and he was leaning back slightly, lifting his chin in the air as if he was trying to intimidate her.

_'Aha, I knew they were her brother's!' _ Was the first thing Anna congratulated herself on, before she realized the way she was being treated. Anna wasn't one to take up a defensive attitude…ever.

She was someone who believed that the best form of defence was a good offence.

"She's a teenage girl trapped in a boarding school full of people who think that robes are fashionable…where do you think I took her?"

Silence took over the room for a few moments, before the pair of Ginny's twin brothers burst out into flashy grins.

"Oh sister. Are you telling us that you left school property?" Twin number one.

"Without permission?" Twin number 2.

"To go shopping?" Both of them finished the sentence together, which seemed to be something of a smack in the face to all other adults in the room…except to Sirius of course, who was still laid out on the couch, grinning like a Cheshire cat…and he still had his feet up on the antique repaired table.

"You risked your lives…to go shopping?" The other brother's voice stayed low as he turned to look toward his sister for the first time since his glare landed on Anna. Talk about making a good first impression.

"Well, you see...the thing is...we weren't really in any danger. Because we weren't really exposed to the wizarding community." Ginny tried to put them at ease…but actually just adding fuel to the fire.

"Whether or not you went to Muggle London or not Ginny, there are still wizards that would have noticed you out walking the streets." Lupin slipped up a bit, and let a slight look of irritation into his eyes. He seemed to be getting frustrated, and he was not the only one.

"Well, we weren't exactly in London…" Ginny trailed off.

Hermione nervously cleared her throat, warning her sulking friend to quit while she was ahead, with Anna turning around looking at her, still wondering what the whole situation was about.

Big deal, they left the school for half an hour without getting permission? There's kid's probably running through the school bushes or out the front gate's right now for all they knew…isn't that what kid's do at schools? Find ways to get out without getting caught.

"Ms. Weasley, where exactly did you go?" McGonagall's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Somewhere in France." Ginny's voice quickly turned to a mumble at the word 'France'.

"I'm sorry Ms. Weasley what was that? I could have sworn you just told me that you went to France?" McGonagall's facial expressions were changing by the minute since the moment the girls got back. Right now she had just switched from irritation (a favourite of hers, apparently) to shock.

Silence stayed in the room, until Anna couldn't hack it anymore and took it upon herself to stand up for the girls. Apparently nobody else would.

"Yes, they came on a thirty minute visit with me to France to drop by an old friend, who happens to be a designer. He gave them gift's, we talked for a few minute's, we…well actually no, _I_ had a few drinks and we left." Anna thought that laying the situation out in a slow and simple statement would help everyone calm down.

"You got to go to _France_?" Finally! The mute in the corner (a.k.a modern day Adonis Sirius Black) decided to butt in. Sounding a bit put out, and possibly jealous.

"Not now Sirius, you already had a turn at 'Jumping'…twice, if memory serves correctly." Lupin spoke to his friend who was rising up from the chair.

"Yes, and I almost died…both times!" Head's were turning back and forth around the room and Anna's neck was starting to get sore from trying to keep up a conversation with this many people at the same time. Fortunately for her, being friends with Frankie had prepared her for keeping up with quick conversations and hastily changing topic's.

"You went with her, willingly, after Sirius almost died both time's he went with her?" The other brother spoke up again to his sister.

There was no way that Anna was taking the rap for someone else's stupidity!

"Yes, well bad things happen when you follow people through 'Jump Scars', as opposed to joining the person, if they invite you." Anna spoke to the brother about Sirius, before turning to the man himself.

"And there's no need to be so dramatic, you did not almost die! Although if you did though, it should teach you a lesson for next time…don't follow some one through a Jump Scar."

Sirius was about to say something again, but was cut off when Ginny's brother stood forward and his voice boomed across to her, leaving Sirius to sit back and sulk. Anna was almost too distracted by his pout to notice the daytime t.v. dramatics she was getting sucked into.

"I can't believe you willingly put yourself in danger Ginny…you too Hermione. Imagine how devastated mum would have been if anything would have happened to either of you. Imagine how all of us would have been effected, as if thing's aren't bad enough already without having to add both of you to the pile!"

_'Why…oh why, do people need to be so dramatic?'_

"Bill, I'm sorry…we just didn't think." Ginny spoke out to her older brother, and her voice sounded so genuinely upset that the entire room went silent for a few minute's, leaving everyone knowing where they stood in the current situation. Except for Anna. She still had no clue why everyone was so worried, and was getting sick of the looks she was getting from the man who was apparently called Bill, every few minutes.

"Ok, I'm sorry, but had we not already established the fact that they weren't in any danger, at all, for the couple of minutes they escaped from Fort Knox?"

"Anna, you don't know about what's going on in our world right now, you have no idea how much danger you, all of you, would have been in had the girls been spotted by the wrong person for the short amount of time you were gone." Lupin seemed to think it was over when he stared at her, trying to explain the situation to her like he was talking to a child. Fine then, she could play him at his own game, see how he's like's being talked to like child.

"But they were with me. In a shop. And I can tell you for a fact, that there were no wizards in that place…one sight of them robes, and you would have been slotted in for a year long fashion tutorial...and that's if you were lucky" She shuddered to think what might become of modern day fashion should some eccentric/insane designer get a sight of robes.

"Even without the dangers from our world, what would have happened if those men were to begin following you again? Would you have been able to get the girls out of harms way, and look after yourself at the same time? You're not indestructible Anna." McGonagall didn't sound angry anymore, or irritated and Anna heard respect coming through from her voice.

Professor McGonagall had realized that Anna had absolutely no idea what was going on in their world, nor had she any idea of who these girls were, and what sort of tool's they could be used as. It changed her entire view of the situation, blinded as she was by worry for her two students.

Anna's view of the situation did not change however, and she was set on setting the fact straight that she was at the top of the food chain, when ever it involved a threat to her, or anyone around her for that matter.

"I might not be indestructible, but I'm pretty damn close to invincible. At this point in time, the two of them are probably safer with me, than locked in a padded cell full of kittens and rainbows! Did you not see the massacre that took place today? Who's the only one left standing at the end of the day? Me. And I will always be the last one standing, even if it involves protecting people along the way. So don't give them the third degree bullshit about how they weren't safe. They were, and still are, and you can argue about it for the next I don't give a shit how long, but the situation is still going to remain the same. They were safe; they had a good time and their back in one piece."

Getting everything off her chest, Anna's eyes were moving from person to person, daring them to tell her that she was wrong…after a few seconds, the tension levels had definitely dropped, and a ghost of a smile appeared on McGonagall's face.

"Well, Anna your stubborn streak is definitely showing through. I believe that you've set about making friends with members of the right house. Perhaps, for now, we should let the matter rest, and join the rest of the school in the Great Hall. I am willing to make a compromise Anna." The woman had relaxed, and swayed the mood of everyone else while doing so, yet her last statement had made Anna build back towards the offensive again.

"What do I have to compromise for? I still don't even know why this came into a discussion?" After living alone for most of her existence, Anna was used to doing things by her own rules. Standing back on the balls of her feet, she crossed her arms across her chest and stared at the teacher, wondering what on earth she was going to suggest next. Not in a million years could she have prepared herself for what the woman was about to say next.

"I do not believe that your 'Jumping' is a good idea, whilst you are still in this castle. However, I am sure you will have an entire different opinion on the matter, and there fore I will leave it up to you to discuss it with Professor Dumbledore in the morning. Until that time however, I would ask you to refrain from doing so, and in return, I will not give Ms. Weasley or Ms. Granger a detention or deduct any house points for leaving school property without permission. Do we have a deal?" McGonagall smiled at her, and as hard as Anna tried not to be mad at the woman, she really was asking the impossible.

Anna could feel the two girls holding their breath behind her, and the decision she was making was killing her. Not being able to go anywhere, for the next how many hours? Having to walk around like a mere mortal?

_'Oh I am so going to regret this in the next twenty minutes.' _

Across the room, resting against the soft leather couch he had vacated a few minutes ago, Sirius Black watched Anna intently.

"Fine, I won't Jump anywhere until tomorrow morning." It was quite cute the way the girl 'huffed' after agreeing to McGonagall. Like a child getting away with doing something they knew they shouldn't have, but still refusing to believe they did wrong. Which was basically the situation that had just happened.

"Not even down to the bottom of the stairs." Sirius couldn't resist getting a little dig in, he found it quite hilarious that the thought of having to stay in the one place for the night was so annoying to her. He was surprised when she laughed at him, until he heard her say 'Good one Sirius.' If possible, his smile got even bigger just when hers started to fall, and she realized that he wasn't joking.

"But, this place has like eighteen floors. Not to mention God knows how many bloody moving staircases and…oh fuck me, I'm actually going to have to wait on them. Oh this is going to be the worst thing since Good Friday." He hadn't the faintest idea what a religious holiday had to do with the situation, and found that he didn't really want to ask Anna anything at the present moment.

Instead, Sirius still watched her as it finally set in that she was going to be walking every where for the next couple of hours. Her expression became more and more sullen as the moments slipped by, going from fearful, to worried, to down right anger thinking of things that she wouldn't be able to do for the night. He couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked when she huffed in no particular direction, her eyes glowering at every one and everything.

"Wonderful then, it's settled. Now, I suggest we all go and attend dinner. Anna you may of course sit at the Gryffindor table with Hermione and Ginny if you wish, or one of the staff tables. It's entirely up to you." And so McGonagall left the room without even waiting for the girl's answer, while Anna stared at her for a few minutes most likely wondering 'where the fuck Gryffindor was' before she shook her head and hauled her many bags off the floor and stomped across the room to her bedroom, throwing angry glares at everything she passed by on the way. Apparently, her decision was already irritating her, and she had yet to leave the room.

"Come on Hermione, let's drop these off to the dorm' before we go to dinner." Ginny grabbed her things and dragged a confused Hermione from the room quickly, before Bill pushed past his two younger brothers and followed hot on their tails.

"Don't think your getting out of this one so easy, Ginny!"

Finally, an almost peaceful silence fell, disrupted every few moments by the odd pounding noise that came from Anna's bedroom.

"Well then, shall we?" Lupin gestured towards the door as Sirius drained his glass, dropped in onto the table and clapped his hands, grinning slyly as he went to follow his friend.

Both men abruptly stopped at the hushed voices and shoving from behind them.

"Move over-"

"Go out and wait-"

"No, you go out and wait, while I-"

"While you what? Rein her in with you non existent charm and ruin it for both of us!"

"Fred, George." Both boys stopped shoving their way past each other over the couch when they felt a strong grip on both their shoulders, and broke apart from the headlock they initiated to look up at a smirking Sirius Black.

"Why don't both of you go along, and save your 'non existent charm' for another night? Trust me, it's never a good idea to even attempt to 'reign them in' when their like this." After staring at Sirius' knowing look, both boy's turned away from him to look towards Anna's door, after hearing yet another stomp of her foot against the floor boards.

Their faces turning from apprehensive to understanding when they realized that Sirius was of course talking about women in general. They also knew that if they were going to take advice about women from anyone, it should of course be him. Both of them released each other's hold on the other and stood up straight.

Both twins reached out to fix the others ruffled robes and nodded in agreement.

"After you, George." Fred gestured for his brother to make his way first.

"No, no, after you Fred." George stood back and allowed his brother to leave first.

"Why thank you brother." Fred bowed his head.

"The pleasure is all mine." With satisfied smirks on both faces, both twins exited, and Sirius turned around to see Lupin holding open the portrait hole, and shaking his head as the two boys made their way out, speaking again in hushed tones.

Looking down at the boys, Lupin's face changed once again to suspicion, and he turned to his friend and said "I'll see you down there." At the same time quickly following suit after the two boys.

As the conversation in the room finally ended, Sirius could hear mumblings coming through the door across from him. Making his way towards Anna's room, her voice began to get louder, and it wasn't because of him drawing closer.

He heard the familiar sound of clothes and shoe's being tossed across the floor, although he usually heard it under entirely different circumstances, and was always too caught up in the moment to pay attention at the loud _bang_ a woman's heel makes when it comes in contact with the floor on the other side of a room. Besides, when women were muttering to him in these circumstances, they _never_ sounded irritated.

"Let's compromise Anna. I don't think Jumping is a good idea…blah, blah, blah…I don't think walking down seven floors is a good idea!" Another _crash_ at the last sentence, as he listened to Anna mimic Minerva. He couldn't keep the images of her stamping her foot on the floor out of his head, but pushed aside his desire for a laugh and stopped himself from walking straight into her room. Instead he settled for knocking on her door like the gentle man that he was…most of the time.

"It's open!" Anna's growl impressed even him, as he pushed the door open and leaned against its frame. He had considered walking over to her, but seeing how ferociously she was tearing through them bag's it wouldn't surprise him if she grew claws in a minute. She had yet to look up at him, as she sat cross legged on the bed and turning yet another bag upside down, untangling a pair of black heels from black sleeves. She hadn't even been in the room twenty minutes, and the sight of it at the moment could have convinced somebody that she had been living here for the past month.

Clothes were strewn all across the bed, hanging from the bed posts, on top of the wardrobe and only patches of floor could be seen here and there. He watched her shake her head as she pulled a little black lace dress from the pile and mutter under her breath yet again.

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." Stopping what she was doing, she looked up at him from underneath long lashes and stared at him for a moment, her deep green eyes narrowed towards him.

He braced himself for the heavy whack against his head of the studded boot on the bed next to her, but relaxed after she sat up straight and ran a hand through her thick wavy locks and pushed them back of her face with a sigh.

"No, you only need to be concerned when you start talking back to yourself." She raised her eyebrow at him, waiting for a sly comment, but all he did was smirk at her, one of his famous cheeky grins. When he didn't say anything, she threw the dress behind her and proceeded to grab yet another bag and empty the contents out in front of her.

"You know, there's no real need for you to walk all the way down seven floors." He leaned his back against the door frame now, unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling up the sleeves of his white linen shirt.

"Why, have you got a magic carpet waiting outside?" He detected a hopeful note underneath her sarcasm, as she smiled to herself and lifted the scowl from her face for a few moments. The smile suited her better, he decided.

"Not even I can find you a magic carpet this far west on such short notice love. I can however, lead through two secret passage ways, a hidden portrait and only three floors... Unless you'd rather go the long way of course?" He started to pick at an imaginary piece of lint on his shirt, watching her from the corner of his eye as she sat up on the bed, her eyes wide and a smile tugging at the corner's of her lip's.

"Well, I never really have been one to follow the crowd." She smirked at him as she jumped of the bed while pulling on a green check shirt. She didn't even pay attention to the mounds of clothes she was walking over as she rolled up the sleeves, leaving the front of it unbuttoned.

"Neither have I." He winked at her, before smiling and stepping away from the door frame so she could pass by. "Now, I suggest we start moving, unless of course you want your first Hogwarts meal to consist of dessert only?"

"You know Mr. Black, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea." She said, genuinely seeming to think about it. "But, seeing as I wouldn't say no to a piece of food right now even if it jumped onto my plate itself, I don't think I'll complain." She walked past him to the portrait hole and turned around with her hand on her hip, waiting for him for a few moments.

"Do you want me to offer you an invitation, or should I try and find the way myself?" She started tapping her foot against the ground, and he couldn't help but smile at her. Making his way towards her, he stood beside her and stared down at her into her green eyes that never faltered under his gaze.

"First of all, Mr. Black was my father's name. You can call me Sirius. Secondly, I wouldn't be much of a gentle man at all, if _I_ didn't invite you to accompany me in the first place now would I now Ms. Anna?" He offered his arm to her and winked, still smiling at her as she stood in silent thought for a moment, a smirk finally building at the side of her mouth again.

"As long as you agree to call me Anna from now on in, then we have a deal…Sirius." She reached her arm up to join his, and all but pulled him through the portrait hole.

"Come on, I don't want to have to cue for my food. Otherwise, detention for those two or not, I am going for pasta. I might even invite you to accompany me, if I arrive for dinner in one piece." They were out in the hallway now, and she was already dragging him in the wrong direction, before he tugged her back by the elbow and turned her around. She didn't even stumble in her movements, and turned on the spot like a ballerina by the ball's of her feet.

"Excuse me darling, but I believe I am the guide here. You are taking us the wrong way, and we won't have to wait in any cue. Around here, the food comes to you." She kept up at his side as he led them down the hallway in the right direction this time, not meeting a soul along the way.

When he stopped abruptly she stood in front of him, and he noticed for the first time the reddish streaks in her hair, as the sun's last light fell in through the windows around them, sun set casting shadows in the castle as the torch brackets began to light themselves.

"What, does the school have a catering service or something?" The way she looked at him, he could tell that she was waiting for him to tell her not to be ridiculous. He smiled at the image of her face when she saw the plates refilling them selves in front of her, and just laughed as he pulled back the tapestry on the wall beside them.

"You could say that…" But he could tell she wasn't even listening from the first moment she felt the draft hit her as it blew up through the secret corridor. Not even turning to look at him, she stepped out of the hallway and started laughing to herself as the torches along the wall began to light up with her every step.

Smiling to himself, he watched her run her hands along the walls, rubbing her fingers absentmindedly when they brushed up against a cobweb.

* * *

"Ginny, if your not too busy next weekend, we testing out our new merchandise and-"

"Fred! In the space of the last the minute's, the two of have already gotten me to agree to sort through both your order and delivery forms, decided my part in the latest prank that's about to be unleashed on Ron's under wear and socks…which I really don't want to think about now, and-"

"Oh you're right Ginny, sorry. How could we have let it slip our minds Fred, that next weekend Ginny is going to be busy?" George turned to his twin feigning stupidity.

"Oh yes, George that's right. Dear little Ginny's going to be too busy re cooperating after mum gets through with her. Hopefully you'll recover for Halloween though Gin, then you can properly test out our latest merchandise and-"

"Alright, alright I'll do it. Merlin, I wish we hadn't ditched Bill for you two. How did you two get here?" Ginny stopped when she rounded the corner and found Sirius and Anna strolling along right in front of them…even though they definitely had not passed them on the way.

_'Oh please don't let her get caught Jumping…'_ Ginny thought to herself.

"Now, now Ginny. A magician never reveals his tricks." Sirius winked at the girl and tapped his nose, while both boys stared on dumb founded.

"That's not on the map!" Fred and George said to Sirius, turning to the older man as if he had betrayed them. Ginny took the opportunity to drag Hermione along and catch up with Anna, who was absentmindedly strolling along, until she stopped in front of the two enormous heavy wooden doors in front of her. She reached out to run her hands over the patterns in the wood, but soon enough the door's opened slowly of their own accord.

All the chatter and laughter that had been taking place seconds earlier died out as the Hogwarts students turned to see Anna standing in the Great Hall entrance. Even the cutlery seemed afraid to make a tinkling sound.

Anna stood stock still when she got into the huge room, and stared around at the sea of shocked faces that were staring back at her. Her whole body tensed up, as she stared down all the eyes that gazed at her, all of them breaking contact the moment she caught them…

_'Oh come on Anna, their bloody students! What are they going to do, throw their homework at you?' _She laughed to herself at how stupid she was being, and let her shoulders drop from the defensive position she took up.

After a few seconds, hushed whispers began to break out, and groups began to huddle together over the many long tables that stretched forward in front of her.

Anna barely even paid them any attention as soon as she became mesmerized by what she could only describe as an enchanted ceiling. Literally, it looked as if some one had just pulled the roof off the castle, and poured the night sky right in on top of them. Just staring at it, she felt the rest of the tension fall out of her still sore muscles, and she released a sigh of relief.

Thousands of stars twinkled down at her, with dark purple clouds floating across the sky, going no where and yet still moving. The whole sky was a midnight blue, and even though Anna couldn't see the moon, she knew it must have been big, to cast the bright light it did over the whole hall, it's light letting her peek through the lighter clouds, so she could see the brightest of stars shining down at her once more.

Candle's were suspended in mid air, and she had to fight the urge to Jump up towards one and reach for the cloud next to it, just to see whether or not her hand would fall straight through it like it should.

She suddenly became aware of a hand gently gripping her shoulder, and drew her gaze down to see Hermione Granger standing in front of her.

"Anna would you like to come and sit with us at the Gryffindor table?" At this Hermione turned her head over towards the last of the four long tables that was on the far left hand side of the room.

Sirius had explained the four different Houses on the way down, but he didn't really go into detail. She wouldn't have taken much in if he did; basically she learned that the houses were sort of like the classes.

Staring over to the Gryffindor table, Anna could see both Ron and Harry practically standing on their seats, trying to see them over the heads of the rest of the students. Harry clapped Ron on the shoulder after a few moments, and both of them relaxed and sat back down.

"Or you could sit with Sirius and the twins over there?" Ginny said cautiously, probably because of Anna's on going silence, and pointed to one of the smaller tables that were placed in front of what must have been the staff table, because Anna could see Dumbledore sitting in the middle, smiling down at her. She returned the smile, before staring at the table Ginny motioned to and saw the red head's brother still wearing his scowl from earlier…her smile dropped fairly hastily.

"Anna?" Sirius asked from behind her, and she shook herself back to reality.

"Actually, I was thinking about joining my friends over there…" Turning around to face them, she pointed over to a table where she seen the idiot that pointed his wand at her earlier. When she caught Dawlish's eye, she raised her hand and waved at him, throwing a wink his way before joining in on the laughter that was taking place in the circle of people around her.

"I'm just going to go with you guys." Anna said to the girls after their laughter died down.

"If that's ok with you?" She hesitated and turned around to face Sirius and the twins, but was only actually talking to Sirius. She felt rude after him walking her the whole way down here, but she really did not want to have to throw dirty looks at Bill the whole way through her dinner.

"That's no problem love. I'll see you after dinner, yeah?" He smiled kindly at her and turned around to make his way towards the table after she nodded at him.

"Sirius." Anna pulled his arm back before he even took a step further.

"Yes love?" He was still smiling at her, his ebony locks falling forward into his tempest grey eyes that were swirling again. She got so caught up in them that she almost forgot what she wanted to say.

"Thanks, for showing me the way. If this morning's episode didn't finish me off, seven flights of stairs definitely would have."

"Anytime darlin'. And look, I even got us here before the main course." He joked just as the pair turned around to go their separate ways. Still laughing to herself, Anna turned around to go and join Hermione and Ginny who were waiting for her, and became aware of the faces that were still all facing towards her, hundred's of eyes boring into her without even the decency to be sneaky about it.

"Can I help you with something?" She said loudly to the students, who quickly dropped their gazes and turned back to their food, the level of noise in the room quickly rising again as the students went back to their business and Anna took a seat in between Hermione and Ginny.

They barely had their arses on the bench, when Harry and Ron began the interrogation.

Having felt she did the girl's enough favours for the night, Anna stared at the food in front of her and was faced with yet another tough decision: Eat everything in front of her, or save some room for the Banoffi pie that Sirius had told her about?

* * *

Not mad on this chapter if I'm honest, but had to get something in their to fill you guys in before I go on with the story. Don't forget to review! Please?


	10. Skipping The Waiting List

_Better to tell a lie which heals than a truth which hurts_

Dinner in the Great Hall had ended twenty minutes ago, yet most of the four tables in the hall were still full of students lingering after dinner, waiting to hear any news on the mysterious girl with the serious attitude that had joined them for evening.

At the Gryffindor table, half full plates were spread out around Anna, who had gotten carried away with all the home cooked food and proceeded to jump from dish to dish all the way through dinner, taking only two bites out of her spaghetti bolognaise before abandoning it for beef stew…a grave mistake on her part, according to Ron Weasley.

Both he and Harry had gotten over their anger at the two girls after hearing about their run in with McGonagall. They thought it was hilarious that after finally becoming Head Girl, Hermione managed to get in trouble with the head of house all by herself…or at least without either of the boys having anything to do with it. Ron was absolutely beaming by the end of dessert, and made no secret of it either.

"I still can't believe that you broke school rules to go shopping. You, Hermione Granger. Broke a rule...to go shopping! Although is it a bit unfair that you two don't have to do detention." Ron was pouting heavily at this, and it didn't go unnoticed by his younger sister.

"Really Ron, your worse than Fred and George." Ginny shook her head, although it wasn't clear which one of her brothers she was shaking it at, or if it was just the whole set.

"Speak of the devils." Harry raised his head as the two boys were making their way over to their table.

"Alright then, well we're off. Ginny we'll be getting in touch." Fred Weasley winked at his younger sister as he gave her shoulder a light squeeze.

"Why aren't you staying around for Sirius' get together tonight?" Ron asked his older brothers.

"No we're heading off now. Sirius decided to put it of until next week, he's a bit tired and he eh…has to get up early in the morning for…something." George answered awkwardly. Anna followed his gaze over to the table where the man sat, and seen what couldn't have been farther from the truth.

Sirius Black's steel grey eyes were still twinkling as he clapped his hand off the table, a large grin spread across his face as he threw his head back, and letting out his bark like laughter at whatever had just been said.

"Sirius? Up early on a Sunday morning? When's the last time anyone's been able to get more than a grunt from him on a Sunday until after two in the afternoon?" Ron had a knack for 'putting his foot in it' as he was constantly being informed by Hermione, and was completely oblivious to the pointed stares his older brothers were giving him, or the foot that was kicking him under the table.

"Yeah, well he's probably getting up to show Anna around or something. Besides, we need to give you time to settle in, hey Anna. Make yourself at home and all that." The twins shook their heads at their younger brother from behind Anna's back, who was still staring inquisitively over at Sirius, and Ron finally seemed to cop on to the real reason Sirius wasn't having his 'get together'.

"Oh right yeah. Now that you mention it, I'm a bit sleepy myself." He couldn't have been more obvious about the yawn he tried to fake, and Ginny finally gave up on her brother and put her face in her hands.

"If he's trying to help me 'settle in'…for the one night I'm staying here, he couldn't be heading in a more wrong direction. After the day I've had, I don't think anything but alcohol is going to help me wind down." Anna smiled accusingly at the twins, abandoning the food (no matter how good it was) at the mere thought of drink.

"Well, obviously that was what we were trying to get through to him! But old Sirius over there thinks he knows the ways of women, isn't that right George!" Fred spoke extremely theatrically as he nudged his brother in the ribs, his blue eyes taking a new shine to them as a ray of hope broke out over his face.

"Definitely, wouldn't know good reasoning if it hopped up and stuck it's wet finger in his ear!" George nodded along as Fred abruptly dropped his smile and turned to stare at him in horror. The entire table fell into an awkward silence, so Anna took it as her cue and seized an opportunity at avoiding her nightmares the only way she knew how to.

She was going to convince Sirius to have his party, so she wouldn't have to break her word to Professor McGonagall to not leave the castle, she would get absolutely hammered, keep drinking until she passed out of her own accord, and be so pissed/tired that no nightmare would be able to break through the barrier her drunken stupor would erect in her mind. It's really a win win situation for everyone? Now to set the plan in motion.

"Right…well, I'm just going to go over there and fill Sirius in on his lack of 'wet willy' reasoning." Anna got up and patted George on the shoulder, smiling at the two boys and the rest of the table before a sea of faces in the Great Hall turned to follow her as she made her way over to Sirius, Lupin and Bill Weasley.

Hermione watched as Anna kept her head held high and eyes straight ahead of her as she walked. She joined the rest of the obnoxious students in the hall, who in fairness to them, were at least trying to be sneaky about following her every move. Hermione was blatantly obvious about it though, and wondered how Anna managed to carry herself with a proud grace, how was she able to not stumble and embarrass herself, even when an entire hall full of people were staring at her? Whatever trick she was using, Hermione wanted to learn it...

A loud sigh across the table brought Hermione back from her musings.

"Smooth George. Speak to the bird, who by the way is spending just one night in the same castle as me...the same girl who's also potentially attending the same party I am, like you're a thirteen year old boy who hasn't hit puberty yet." Fred shook his head at his brother as he plonked himself down in Anna's newly vacant seat.

"You know, it's time's like this when I'm grateful that I'm the better looking twin. Otherwise, she might not have been able to tell the difference between the normal one of us" at this Fred helped himself to a spoon of ice cream, and licking it clean, turned and pointed it at his twin "…and you."

His self satisfied smile was beautifully wiped off his face as George took another spoon and used it to catapult ice cream at his face from close distance.

* * *

Sirius, Lupin and Bill lifted their heads at the sound of the roaring laughter erupting from the Gryffindor table, and were met with the smiling face of Anna walking towards their table.

Sirius watched her as she came closer, and saw her run her hand through her long, wavy, brunette locks. It was this movement that made him notice something that he hadn't yet noticed in the few hours that he'd spent with her. It was in this moment that Sirius realised just how tired Anna looked.

It wasn't just in her face, it was everything about her. Everything about her that suggested she wasn't the best cared for, that she wasn't looked after by some one...it suddenly stood out to him in that moment.

Her hair didn't shine the way he thought it should have. Instead of reflecting the light of the candle's, and the moonlight of the ceiling, it might as well have absorbed it, searching for some form of nourishment. What could have been rich coffee coloured streams cascading across her shoulders, were in fact just heavy locks of brown hair.

Her wrists were slightly boney looking, so small that he could have joined his thumb and index finger around either of them easily with room to spare. If the bracelet tattoo around her wrist had been a real one, he was sure that it would not stay on very long before falling off. Earlier, when he had seen her, he saw how strong her physique was, instead of where most people would have extra fat, she had taut and lean muscles on her biceps. He had felt toned abs when he wrapped his arm around her in the water, pulling her away from the danger of another predator's jaws.

Yet looking at her properly, he couldn't deny how weak...no, not weak. This girl was anything but weak. No, looking at her now, Sirius couldn't deny how _delicate _he was sure she was.

There wasn't a curve in sight on her slight frame, not one piece of her that indicated to a womanly presence. He couldn't help but think that this was one person who would definitely benefit from just a week spent with Molly Weasley. One sight of this girl, and his cousin would probably have a field day.

If Anna didn't have such a deep tan, Sirius wondered if she would look pale, and sickly. She didn't seem like some one who was naturally tanned, her skin didn't have the olive colouring he'd seen on foreign women. Most likely she just spent a lot of her time in the sun. Right now he wished she hadn't, so that he could have a clearer view of the red ink tattoo's that decorated her body. The script on the insides of her arms, the one's winding their way over each of he slender fingers, similar to his…

It was her eyes that really called Sirius' attention though. Her wide, long lashed, deep forest green eyes, despite their beauty, didn't have a healthy shine to them. There was a strange vitality in them though, a desperate streak of something Sirius couldn't quite put his finger on...some emotion that would transform them from defiant, to dangerous, to mischievous...to the manic glint he had seen in them earlier, when her face was covered in blood and she had tiny trails of tears treading down across her soft cheeks. No, her eyes didn't shine at him. They were overshadowed by deep purple rings, and it proved exactly what he had realised about her.

Anna wasn't just physically tired; she was mentally and possibly emotionally tired too. His heart went out to her as he stared, transfixed at the enchanting, albeit probably fake smile she plastered on her face as she strode confidently over to them. When he first set eyes on Anna, fighting though she was out numbered and un armed, she reminded Sirius of someone, yet he couldn't think who. Now he realised that Anna reminded him of the Goddess Athena, even though at the moment she didn't look like the physical embodiment of her, she still had the presence of a Goddess. Fierce and proud, she was a mixture of different emotions fighting for dominance, determination defiantly seeping through her right now, as she sat down on a chair at the end of the bench that he and the two others were occupying, as if it was something she did everyday. As if these were her long time friends, and she had no reason to feel shy, or insecure around them. As if she belonged there, at the head of the table.

Still smiling her beautiful smile, she turned the full force of her innocent gaze to him.

"So Sirius, what's this I hear about a party being cancelled?" Her voice had lost most of its tired husky tone and didn't sound as harsh to his ears as it did when she first woke up in the hospital wing.

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a party…more like a get together of a few close friends. But after my traumatic day at the office, I've decided it can wait for a while. I daresay you wouldn't mind a bit of peace and quiet yourself tonight?" He stretched back his chair, crossing his arms behind his head as if to put across a point that it was actually him who was tired.

She clearly had a rough day, the last thing on her mind was probably sitting up with a room full of strangers who only proceeded to get increasingly intoxicated as the night wore on, occasionally telling embarrassing stories about the others.

Ok, so a night in spent with his friends and a few butter beers sounded like an ideal way to end a rough day to him, but maybe not what Anna needed right now. However, the hint of a sparkle in her eye told him differently.

"Oh interesting. And which office would this be? The one you had just escaped from after I first met you today, soaking up the sun? And please…do not talk to me about trauma. Try waking up in a bed that's not yours, with a pounding headache and absolutely no idea where on Gods earth you are…that's trauma." Sirius was waiting for the commentary that was coming. That girl really had just walked him into it, hadn't she?

"It seems we've found a new way to sum up your Sunday morning's Sirius." Bill laughed at him from behind his goblet. Sirius clenched his jaw as he smiled a sickeningly sweet smile at the eldest Weasley. He could of course destroy the younger man with abuse right now, but held his temper in check as he listened to the attempted muffled laughter coming from Remus…useless bloody werewolf.

"Lets leave this be until later Bill, shall we, when we aren't in the company of a lady?" Sirius moved his glare from Bill to Anna, who took the opposite route to Lupin and openly laughed at the joke.

"Hey Remus, maybe we should make ourselves scarce. I think these two are alluding to the fact that they want some privacy." Anna stage whispered across the table to Lupin, her winking eyes still hadn't lost their mischievous glint since she sat down. Sirius almost didn't realize that his sexual preferences were being questioned until Lupin started laughing along with her.

"I'll give you bloody trauma Remus if you-"

"Wonderful, so the parties still on for later then? I am dying for a drink, and detention or not for those two, I am going to get it." Anna cut Sirius off as she turned around to face the staff table, glaring at McGonagall while the professor wasn't looking.

She placed her hands in front of her, and tapped her fingers along the hard wood as Sirius turned to Remus with raised eyebrows, silently asking his friends opinion.

"It's up to you, but be warned that if Tonks is already on her way and arrives to find out that there's no party, I'm using you as my own personal human shield." Lupin took a long drink from the goblet in front of him, eyeing Sirius over the brim of the cup, before the soon to be host hastily stood up and called across to the group at the Gryffindor table "Change of plans, we're back on for tonight."

A cheering chorus led by Fred and George let him know the boys were still going to chance their arm's with Anna. Probably not one of their best ideas to date, but he didn't have the heart to tell them that they were probably going to be caught out of their depth.

He sat back down at the table and resumed his casual position, his ankle resting across his knee as he turned to face the raised eyebrows of the other occupants of the table.

"What? She's my younger cousin; I'm not allowed to fight with her!" Sirius had trouble keeping his face straight, yet he somehow managed to pull it off without chuckling like the rest of the group around him.

"Says who Sirius, your mother?" Bill barged into dangerous territory. Usually at the very mention Walburga Black, a dark shadow consumed the fiery man. This time though, the darkness only entered his eyes. Bill was one of the few that Sirius was able to joke with that wouldn't take whatever he said to heart, and the pair had yet to take things too far. Although Bill was barely toeing the line this time.

"No actually. Let's just say that when it comes to Nymphadora, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. But don't tell Andromeda I said that!" Sirius pointedly stared at Lupin.

His so called 'friend' had often gotten him in trouble with his cousin, occasionally for a few laughs at Sirius' expense. Of course it was all fun and games until his cousin started telling him off about his private life. Apparently, he was getting too old to be going out and having 'one night stands' every other weekend. According to Andromeda, it was time for him to 'settle down' and find a 'nice girl' for himself.

Please, he's Sirius Black...what 'nice girl' is going to want to settle down with him? And on a more important note, what was the point in settling down in life? Waking up to the same boring routine every day did not sound like Sirius' cup of tea...or glass of fire whiskey for that matter.

Of course, there was absolutely no point in arguing this with Andromeda. It was simply easier just to tell the woman to stay out of his business, which would result in a roaring match between the two of them (a fight between two Blacks is not something that anyone would want to be a part of, even without wands involved). They wouldn't speak for a while, until eventually they would kiss and make up, for the simple reason that they weren't like the rest of their family and actually understood the meaning of love and family...the true meaning of family, not the definition the Black family went by : Their way, or the highway.

Sirius' attention was drawn to Bill, who had his goblet hovering halfway between the table and his mouth, his hand clenching it tightly as his eyes stayed fixed on Anna's tapping fingers, her well manicured nails beating a steady rhythm on the hard wooden table. Sirius lifted his gaze to Anna and she smiled a rigid smile at him. Curious, he too slowly dropped his gaze to her fingers, and barely caught her steal a glance at Bill out of the corner of her eye, her body slowly but surely tensing up, crouching away from them.

The table had gotten silent very quickly, a seed of tension was sewing its way among them, and Sirius hadn't got the faintest idea why. From across the table, he heard Lupin's controlled breathing, and almost felt his friend's eyes shifting towards him, trying to catch his attention. But Sirius couldn't take his eyes off Anna and Bill, he was too afraid of what might happen if he looked away.

Finally, as the tension was mounting to an unbearable high, Bill broke it.

"Where did you get those tattoos?" Unfortunately, his calm and easy tone of voice only succeed in making Anna more suspicious, and though her face never gave her thoughts away, Sirius could almost see a dark streak hiding behind the mischievous glint in her green eyes.

"Oh these one's." She held her delicate hand out in front of her and smiled, her voice light and airy. "A friend of mine opened a new tattoo shop a few years ago; naturally I wanted to be the first customer." She smiled sweetly at them and brushed her hand through her long locks, pushing the hair off her face. When she brought it back down again, she set it resting in her lap.

"Where's your friends tattoo shop?" Sirius felt the need to push the subject; Bill's hand was still gripping the goblet too hard, a calculating look in his eyes. He wasn't the only one who found Bill's change of attitude towards Anna strange, as he watched her keep giving Bill sidelong suspicious glances.

"Prague. Where did you get yours?" She stared down at Sirius' hands, and turned the tables on him. What was he meant to say?

_'Oh these old things, I got them a few years ago when I was sent to prison for a murder that I never committed...although I wish I had done it.' _That would lead to an interesting conversation. Luckily Mooney was there to save his arse.

"I don't think Sirius even remembers the name of the city he was in when he got them, do you Sirius? Oh, we got a good laugh out of that one for a couple of weeks, didn't we Bill." Lupin nudged Bill in the ribs, and Bill's goblet was finally set back down on the table, as he cleared his throat nervously.

"Oh right ya those things." Apparently, the notorious lack of 'tact' was a trait of this Weasley too. After a few seconds, Anna rose out of her seat, sensing the awkwardness and hoping to avoid a prolonged course of it.

"Right. Anyway, I'm going to do a bit of exploring before your 'get together'. Ginny was telling me something about a ticklish pear, or something-"

"No!" Bill almost hopped out of his seat, his right hand trembling slightly as he looked up at Anna, eyes wide and terrified.

"Care to finish the sentence?" Anna spoke after a few seconds, her hands on her hips and her foot tapping against the floor. She took on an icy demeanor as she waited for Bill to elaborate.

_'Here we go again.' _Thought Sirius, as he waited for Bill to begin the boring argument they kept harping on about upstairs. Worrying about wizards finding the girl's...he'd be more worried about them running into those muggle's again. Bill surprised him though by not resuming his earlier argument with Anna.

"I…I don't think that you and Ginny should be walking around the castle alone, this late at night." Bill wasn't giving her an evil glare, or spiting answers at her. In fact, if Sirius didn't know better he would almost say that Bill was trying to be nice to her...a little too nice.

"For fuck's sake, it's not as if we're going to go gallivantin' off again! I gave my word to McGonagall to save your sister a few hours of writing stupid fuckin' lines! I'm hardly going to go and get her in more trouble am I?" Anna glared at him, her hands still on her tiny hips as the people in the great hall stared at them, wondering why Anna looked as if she wanted to pull at her hair in frustration. Sirius noticed how her voice and way of speaking changed when she was angry, still he didn't know where she was taking it from.

"It's not because of that…it's because well…" Bill's eyes were frantically roving through out the room, before they lit up for a moment and he leaned in close to the table and dropped his voice down to barely above a whisper. "I don't think Dawlish or his Ministry lot would be too welcoming if they found you…wandering around the castle. Alone." Sirius knew that Anna didn't buy this for one moment, the way she kept looking at Bill as if waiting for him to slip up.

She seemed to think it was below her to drop down so she could hear Bill's strained voice better. Instead, she just turned behind her and fixed her glare on Dawlish for a few seconds, waiting for the man to turn around and face her.

Either he was too afraid to turn around and look at her or… No, that was the only reason Sirius could think of. If somebody was looking at him the way Anna was looking at Dawlish, he knew that he would definitely feel their eyes burning into his back.

While Anna had her eyes locked onto Dawlish, Sirius turned to Bill who was using his wand as a quill to write something on a napkin. He wasn't sure what it was until Bill lifted his head and focused on Anna's hand before dropping his gaze back down. Bill was taking a copy of Anna's tattoos. Why?

When Anna sighed and turned back around to face them, Sirius wasn't sure whether or not Bill had the napkin out of sight in time for her not to notice it. If she did see it, Anna didn't let on that she had. Whatever had the Weasley interested in the tattoo, Sirius had a feeling that it wasn't something good.

"I think I can handle whatever 'genius' plan that epic failure of a man could come up with. Plus, do you honestly expect me to spend the night in an enchanted castle and not go for a look around?" Anna turned to look at Sirius and Lupin, who didn't know what to make of the situation.

"No Anna, I think Bill's right. You'll have all day tomorrow to see the castle, if it's another nice day there'll be hardly anyone inside. Better to look around during the day anyway, less chance of getting lost." Sirius knew that Lupin had said the exact wrong thing when Anna's eyes lit up at the sound of the word 'lost'.

"Wander around and possibly get lost in a magic castle, or sit in for the night?" Anna made a show of holding her hands at her sides like a scale. The look on her face seemed to him that she was asking them whether or not they'd like to a) go to the Quidditch World Cup, or b) Sit in and listen to Witching Hour with special guest: Gilderoy Lockhart.

And Sirius had to admit, Anna did make it sound fun. But rather than agree with her, he sided with the werewolf that was repeatedly kicking him under the table.

"Usually, I would side with you. But unfortunately tonight, I have prior engagements…I can't neglect my guests! And I fully intend on being there when Dawlish run's into you again... The way I see it, you have two choices. You can come and sit in with a few drinks, have a laugh and not get annoyed when you end up tired on the second floor. Without someone who knows the secret passage's around the castle." Sirius was pulling her in, he knew he had already caught her attention, he just needed to be a bit more convincing.

_'Better break out the famous Sirius Black charm' _he mentally sighed. It wasn't often that he needed to put effort into his charming actions.

"What's my second choice, oh wise one?" Anna considered the first option for a few moments before wrinkling up her nose at the thought of it.

"Or, you could go gallivanting around the castle, but I cannot guarantee that there will be drink left for you when you get back. And anyway, if you go exploring the castle now, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel the grand tour." He sighed dramatically as Anna stared on at him sceptically.

"What grand tour would this be?" Lupin leaned forward, interested at this point although he should have known what was coming.

"Well, usually you'd have to wait a few weeks on the waiting list to get the grand personal tour from me. There's an extremely high demand for it these days. But, not to worry! I've pulled a few strings, and managed to get _you_, Anna, a tour on Monday. Don't worry there's no need to thank me! Tour starts anytime after breakfast, beginning at the Great Hall and going anywhere you want from there. If you have any queries, see yours truly." With a smile and a wink, he was sure that she was sold.

"Well, Sirius, if I'm still here on Monday, I'll gladly take you up on it. But I doubt it, so I suppose that Hermione or Ginny can take me around." She sighed and started to turn away from the table.

"Well it's a one time offer. I hope you don't regret it." Sirius leaned back in his chair, convinced that after some persuading later tonight, Anna would still be here on Monday. Failing that, he was sure Dumbledore would inspire Anna to stick around for a lot longer after he spoke to her tomorrow.

"Right well, I'm going to go and tell Ginny that our visit to that ticklish fruit thing is going to be put off until tomorrow." With that, Anna smiled and left them, making her way back over to the kids over at their table. She was barely out of earshot before Bill had the napkin pulled out again and started mumbling to himself.

"Bill, what the bloody hell was that all about?" Sirius leaned across the table, trying to get a better look at the drawing. Staring at it, he didn't have a notion what the swirling image was. Staring at Bill's sketch, he could picture it more easily on Anna's hand.

Starting with two intertwining lines that reached down past the knuckle of her middle finger, almost to the center of her hand. They gracefully made their way up until they separated just below the middle of her finger, creating a v-shape as the doubled back to join in the center. Two more lines spread out to move up either side of her finger, almost like wings like wings. The intricate detail of the lines were amazing, they were so thin and beautiful as they flowed with the curve of her long fingers, Sirius could nearly picture it on her hand as if she was holding it out right in front of him.

"That tattoo on her middle finger, I'm almost positive that I've seen it before." Bill was scratching at his head now, occasionally running his finger over the drawing.

"Well, what's so big about it?" Sirius was eager to hear how mysterious this girl was going to get.

"Well, it was when I was working in Egypt a few years ago. This new treasure chamber was found in one of the old pyramids. Nothing extravagant, I'm fairly certain it was only muggle artifacts in there? Anyway, there was this sealed chest found in with all the rest of the treasure. No one is allowed to open anything until it's been checked by a curse breaker first. It was nothing fancy…well nothing fancy compared to the rest of the chests, it was gold with rubies and whatever encrusted along the sides. Most likely filled with scrolls by the look and weight of it." Bill leaned forward at this stage, and Sirius and Lupin mimicked him. Sirius' face was barely inches away from the other two, and he could feel his heart racing. He loved hearing the wild stories that Bill had about his curse breaking days abroad.

"So after a couple of days with the thing, I couldn't find anything wrong with it, but not only that, I couldn't even open it. Nobody could. I mean I even tried everything I learned from the goblins, and still no luck. So I brought it up to the local guys there, and when they saw it they went _ballistic_! Told me to put it back, leave it where it belonged. 'Course, I couldn't could I? It was the goblins property, and you know how they get about their gold. Even caught one Egyptian lad trying to break into the house one night to get it. When I asked him what he was gonna do with it, he just kept on pointing to the bloody pyramid." Bill was shaken at this stage, and a light sweat was breaking out across his brow, his eyes far off as if he wasn't really paying attention to where he was anymore.

"Well, at this stage I was bricking' it! Wouldn't even touch the thing, after the reactions of that lot. So I got onto the goblins about it, told them how I was trying for days and I was having no luck. Well, as was to be expected, they waved it off; thought I was just another incompetent wizard…until I told them about the local's, and then they got fairly blunt about the whole thing. Asked me what the chest looked like, so I told them about the gold and the rubies and emeralds and what not. Then they asked me was anything written on the chest, so I had a closer look to see if I could translate it, and that's when it hit me. There were markings on the chest that I'd never seen before. At the time I thought they were just forgotten ancient hieroglyphics or something, but after taking a closer look I realised they weren't. And this is where things get really weird." Bill looked Sirius deep in the eye, and Sirius noticed for the first time that he was sitting on the edge of the seat, clamping the table with his hands.

"What Bill? What got weird?" Lupin nudged Bill, trying to coax the information out of him faster.

"Well, I told the goblins about the strange markings I found on the chest. There were only about four or five, so I described them to the goblin. And well, you know how goblins are, don't get phased by much do they? But this one, he nearly had a heart attack. Told me to put the box back straight away. Just leave it where I found it, and ward and block the entrance to the tomb. So I did what I was told and brought it back, left it there and warded the tomb, thought it was all over with until I got home to England. An hour later I got a Floo call from one of the head goblins, asking me if I had it done and then told me that they had a new assignment for me."

"What happened then?" Sirius was almost breathless, waiting for the climax of the story that had yet to come.

"Well, that was it wasn't it. I was shipped off to South Africa the next day, haven't heard a word about the thing ever again." Bill leaned back in his chair, away from the eager faces of the two marauders.

_'Well that was a let down.'_ Sirius thought to himself dejectedly.

"Did the goblins say anything to you about it?" Lupin pressed for more information.

"Well you know how they are about revealing their secrets. Didn't even think it was worth my while asking, but I did anyway. So I asked him what's wrong with the chest, was it hexed or whatever? What he said to me, the way he acted, the way he spoke to me when he said it gave me the chills boys. It was as if he was treating me like an...equal or something. Giving me, a wizard, friendly advice." Bill visibly shivered with his arms folded across his chest, staring off into space.

"Well, what did he say Bill?"

"Well, he stopped for a few seconds and turned to face me with this sad and scared look in his eyes, and said 'Bill…there are some ancient treasures in this world, that are best left alone.'" Bill leaned forward again onto the table, watching the faces of the two men.

"I don't understand?" Sirius voiced after a few seconds, he didn't know what this had to do with anything.

"Neither did I. I copied down the symbols, the markings or whatever you want to call them and I checked every book known to man kind about hieroglyphs, ancient dialects, even muggle books. There's no mention of them anywhere, not even in the oldest arithmancy books. I've never seen anything like them again…not until tonight." Bill's eyes went back to the napkin he had in his hand and he started staring at it again.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, although he already knew what was coming, and a sick feeling settled in his stomach.

"The tattoo on Anna's finger…I'm almost positive it was one of the one's on the chest. And guys, I mean this thing was old. Older than modern magic by the looks of it." The three of them fell silent for a few moments, thinking about what this could mean? Finally, Bill broke the silence again as he brought his attention back to the table, away from the kids table and his younger siblings….away from Anna.

"I don't know what she's hiding, but I don't like that she knows about something from the wizarding world. Especially something that's got the goblins spooked enough to hide away gold. The box wasn't the only thing that was sent back...everything was sent back in there." Sirius looked at Lupin, and they both shared a look that meant something serious was wrong.

"Bill, Dumbledore needs to know about this. Anna, convincing though she may be, may not be as ignorant of the magical world as we might think. I think it would be a good idea for me and you to keep a close eye on her tonight Sirius." Sirius didn't reply to Lupin, he just stared over at the group that were making their way out of the great hall, laughing and joking together as they started their climb through the castle.

Anna stood in front of the group, her height helping him easily pick her out of the crowd. As the rest of them made their way through the large open doors, Anna hung back and slowed down, turning slowly in a circle as she stood enchanted by the night sky.

Watching how amazed Anna was by the magic around them, the feelings of suspicion he was beginning to harbour for her slowly faded away. A bright twinkle shone in her eye as she caught the reflection of one of the stars, and a smile spread across his face as he watched.

At the same instant, Anna broke her gaze and stared over at him with confusion in her eyes. For a second she seemed lost, until she locked onto his eyes and with an air of confusion still about her, she smiled over at him as she walked backwards out of the Great Hall, where a group of young people were waiting for her outside.

When she looked at him at that moment, everything in the room became fuzzy to Sirius, and he felt like he was watching himself through her eyes, for the briefest moment of bliss, before he fell back into himself again.

For whatever reason the gods sent her here, Sirius knew that there was a great purpose behind it.

* * *

"Ginny, hold on for a minute..." Harry held onto his girlfriends hand, pulling her back towards him as the group ahead of them continued on through the portrait hole to Sirius' rooms. He hadn't let go of her hand since they left the Great Hall, gripping her tightly to him like he was afraid she would run away.

Spinning around to face him, Ginny smiled a wide smile at him, ready to lean in and give him a chaste kiss until she saw the serious look on his face. An immediate panic swept over her. Before she had time to ask him what was wrong, Harry wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

A kiss so filled with a desperate longing, a need to find something. A need to prove it, to prove to himself that she was there, in front of him, un hurt and undamaged. She was safe.

His lips moved against her's in an unsteady and desperate rhythm, his hand behind her neck pulling her into him. A deep fear flowed into Ginny, not for herself, but for Harry. But she had no desire to stop him, and she responded the only way she knew how to...she kissed him back with a fiercer and more determined passion than she ever had before.

As soon as he started, he stopped, and Harry pulled back to stare into Ginny's eyes, the smell of wisteria washing over him as he held her close to him, as if she would get torn away from him if he let her go. Standing still, he closed his eyes again and just leaned his fore head against her's, listening to the sounds of both their breathing slowing down, feeling her hands grip onto his shoulders as she waited anxiously for him to speak.

"Please Ginny. Please, don't ever leave like that again without telling me." His voice was so tense, his hold on her so tight that Ginny couldn't even bring herself to be mad at him for treating her like she was made of glass. She looked into his pleading eyes, eyes that were begging her to tell him that she won't, even if it was a lie.

This was a war, a war that had become all too real since their return to Hogwarts. Someday, a great deal may depend on Ginny leaving, and she would not be...she will not be Harry's downfall if that day comes. She will be strong for him, just as he will be strong for her.

With any luck, hopefully they would make it through, although luck and hope were two fickle friends that were slowly starting to desert them these days...

She searched deep into Harry's brilliant green eyes, found the trust that he held between the two of them and whispered to him.

"I won't Harry." Ginny lied.

* * *

Yes, it has been a lonnnng time. Really guys, I'm just not cut out for this studying craic, at all!

I think it's taking me so long because I have it all planned out ahead, and these first few chapters are just like struggling through the quicksand of BORING (but extremely necessary) until I reach the shore that is the rest of the story and relationship between Anna and Sirius. There are going to be a lot of fireworks there let me tell you!

This is my first ever attempt at an intense/intimate scene kissing scene. :S I don't think I crashed and burned, but if I did please do tell me. I'll learn for the next time!

Thanks for all the reviews so far, they make me smile so don't forget to review this chapter!

Oh and jk1920...Sirius is more likely to be the fuse that ignites the bomb rather than the one to diffuse it! And believe me, if he was real, we would not be platonic friends and he would have NO choice about that one!


	11. Room Full Of Rare Exceptions

Hola! I know it's been ridiculously long. Parts of this chapter have been floating around the place for the last while, but never really fitting together.

But that's not what I'm here to say. It's been brought to my attention that Anna is a bit of a Mary-Sue. (God I hate that word.) For anyone who's thinking along the same lines, please don't be put off, cause that's kind of my goal for the first few chapters. She has faults that are obvious, but you just might not recognise them...yet.

So yeah, that it. Hope it was worth the wait (for those of you who didn't give up on me and came back to my story!) And gimme some reviews. I love listening to other people's opinions!

* * *

_If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language - that goes to his heart ~ Nelson Mandela_

Anna silently thanked God as she stretched herself across the long couch in Sirius' sitting room. She gladly let the soft leather swallow her up, soothing her aching bones and bruised muscles.

She hadn't realised how tired she was, until she closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. After successfully blocking out the quiet chatter taking place between everyone on the surrounding couches, Anna attempted to cut herself off from the scene. Only for a few moments.

Soon, she felt as if she was floating on a large white cloud, silently drifting away across the sky on a gentle wind. Fred and George's arguing voices in the background became nothing more than feint whispers carried by the wind. Like a lullaby, they sung her heavy eyelids down slowly, the pounding in her head fading away with the voices as she lay there and allowed herself to become wrapped inside silence.

A soft breeze blew in through the open window, caressing her warm face and blowing her hair across her eyes. The light touch of it tickled the skin of her cheeks. Anna twitched her nose, taking in a deep breath of cool air. The breeze carried the smell of the evening dew with it, and a hint of something else delicately weaving underneath it.

It was a scent that Anna knew, something her heart remembered strongly as it started fluttering inside her chest. She took another deep breath; trying to separate the smell of the damp grass from the musky smell…it smelt 'green'.

It triggered something in her mind that called forward past memories. Soon Anna felt as if she really were wandering through that beautiful forest once again, before she even registered the smell of oak surrounding her. It still does, and always would, remain the smell of home.

_March 1984_

_'Daddy no peaking!' I called back to my father, as I caught him sneaking a glance from around the giant oak tree._

_'I wouldn't dream of such a thing…eleven, twelve, thirteen." His voice became dimmer and dimmer as I ran through the forest path. The damp earth beneath my feet hushed my fumbling childish steps. _

_My light hearted breath was coming out between innocent giggles, as I shot glances behind my shoulder, keeping a keen eye on the forest path behind me._

_'Ready or not here I come!' My father evoked a startling panic in me that only a child would feel during a game of hide and seek. My heart rate doubled as I searched wildly around myself, desperately seeking a place to hide amongst the open forest path. _

_Short woodland tree's laced the path on either side of me, here and there opening up to reveal a view of the lake on the forest's western edge. There, resting alone near the centre of the great body of water, was the beautiful lake isle. It was barred from me by the raised water of early October and inaccessible until the heat of the Summer returned to lower the water level...  
_

_Nervous anticipation seeped through me, as my seven year old self risked a glance into the looming tree's to my right. They were too tall even for climbing!_

_I took my first step off the path and into the woods, my defiant adventurous streak gleaming through as I heard my father calling out to me._

_"I wander where Anna is?" He called in playful curiosity.  
_

_The forest floor was covered in wandering ivy and other forest plants. In a few months time, all this green earth would appear as a haze of purplish blue petals, as the blue bells began to flower again. I couldn't wait._

_I went as far into the forest as I dared, while still able to keep an eye on the trail. I watched as my father strolled along the forest path, a bright smile on his face. I knew he was talking to himself, assuming that I could hear him…I held my breath behind the tall oak tree, for fear that he would hear me. _

_Giving up on turning around in circles, my father continued along the forest path. I followed him from a distance through the cover of the trees, the light wind stealing my swift breath at times. _

_"Anna! Come out; come out where ever you are!" I quietly giggled once again, watching my father turn in circles and yet still unable to find me. It was a long game this time. I watched from the perfect spot for a moment, waiting to surprise him. _

_After persuading myself to draw the game out a little bit longer, I moved further along through the wood.  
_

_A patch of treacherous nettles spread itself out across the green floor in front of me. Hesitating, I judged my fathers position on the path. I could still see glimpses of him, shining through the surrounding bushes on the path along with the mid day sun. _

_Getting lost was a minor fear at that stage, I was doing so well at hiding! Why not keep it going on for a few more minutes? Daddy wouldn't be getting scared yet._

_Still pointlessly sneaking through the forest, I walked around the nettles and lost sight of the forest path. The tall forest tree's were settling more closely together now. They blocked out some of the bright sunlight, but it was by no means dark. Just shadowed._

_The sounds of the birds and the wind were cut off, along with my father's voice as I made my way steadily forward. _

_Deeper and deeper I went past the ancient oak tree's. I stopped suddenly at the crack of a branch behind me, my heart pounding at the thought of someone sneaking up on me. Gripping onto the moss covered tree to my right, my heart only continued to speed up. I was not scared yet…just anxious. I wanted to go back to the sunlight…back to my father._

_I freed the thick, crumbling tree bark from my grasp, and turned full circle. Everything looked the same. Which way did I come?_

_"Anna! Anna where are you?" I heard my father's voice in the distance, and a smile broke out across my face._

_I began hurtling through the forest like an arrow, weaving through low hanging branches and jumping over tree roots._

_"I'm over here Daddy!" I shouted breathlessly as I continued running, pushing my heavy hair out of my eyes with sweaty palms._

_"Anna come on darlin'! It's time to go home!" My father's voice was further away now, calling for me in the distance, yet I could still tell he was roaring at the top of his lungs. Tears began to well up inside my eyes, as I ran as fast as my tiny legs could carry me._

_"Daddy wait, I'm back here!" Tears spilled down my cheeks, as I continued running past the sinister shadows lurking behind the trees, every cracking twig more terrifying than the last. I could hear nothing over the sound of my own ragged breathing, and paused to lean against a tree and listen for some echo of my father's voice._

_What if he couldn't find me? What if I was stuck here all night long with the monsters? What if the monsters had Daddy right now? _

_I closed my eyes, and began to picture my father. I saw myself running towards him and jumping into his arms, his laughing face after I snuck up on him._

_'Please let him find me!' I prayed. _

_With wide eyes, I spotted the tallest tree in the forest. My mother had pointed it out to me the very first time my parents brought me here. _

_It was so big, that you could see it from the very edge of the forest, towering over the other oak tree's surrounding it. Maybe if I just waited here long enough, my daddy would think to search here for me. He was probably making his way here already. _

_Quickly, terrified, I backed up against the hard tree and closed my eyes. Hugging my tiny frame, I tried to picture my father standing in front of me with a smile on his face. But I couldn't get rid of the image of him standing in the woods alone, the monsters blending into surrounding area and grabbing him. _

_Panic. Fear. And then- _

_Silence._

_Out of nowhere a light breeze blew across my face, and the snapping of twigs in front of me startled me into opening my eyes._

_"Anna! Sweet heart please, where are you? Anna!" It was my father, tearing through the forest right in front of me. _

_He was walking through branches like they were merely wisps of smoke drifting in the cold air, his voice trembling more than my whole body was. _

_"DADDY!" I cried out, as my father's terrified face turned around find me. Pushing through the branches now, he was faster than me as we made our way to each other. He opened his arms just as I jumped into them, clinging to his shirt and burrowing my face in his shoulders._

_"Thank you." He whispered up to the sky, his grip on my arms tightening. _

_His bristly face rubbed against my soft cheek, but I didn't mind this time though, as he kissed my forehead. His arms still hadn't loosened their grip when I had finished crying. _

_"I knew you'd find me at the big tree daddy." I smiled into his shoulder, and he pulled back to look at me. I never saw his eyes shine so brightly for me as they did in that moment, like he was still staring in awe of his favourite Christmas present._

_"What big tree sweetheart?" He asked me, a relieved smile breaking out across his face._

_"That one there Daddy. Mummy's favourite one. The biggest one in the forest." I turned around in his embrace to point out the tallest oak tree, only to find that it was no longer there._

_But I had been just standing at it? Where had the shadows gone? The heavy air? The huge oak tree?_

_My father's grip on me tightened as he stared over my shoulder, a concentrated look across his face. He held me to him closer again as he carried me quickly out towards the forest path. He wasn't smiling anymore.  
_

_"I think it was you that found me Anna." He whispered sadly. We hurried back to the car and went straight home to our house. We didn't speak about what happened._

_When I woke up the next day, all of our things were packed into boxes. I kicked up a fuss. This had been my favourite home so far. _

_ One look at my mother's worried face silenced me, and I quietly brought my pillow to the window seat in our car. I watched sadly as we left yet another home behind. I never got to see the bluebells open._

There were no tears in her eyes now, as Anna opened them suddenly and made her way towards the open window. Leaning out, the warm skin on her forearms cooled against the cold stone walls. The light breeze brushed her hair behind her, as she stared across the enchanting grounds.

She remembered the great forest she saw on her arrival to Hogwarts. That was where the oak scent drifted to her from. She searched the borders of the forest for the smallest glimmer of colour lying along the ground…she couldn't spot any bluebell's there.

She'd done it before today. She'd Jumped without knowing where she was going to, without even thinking about it. And what's more, she'd Jumped without a photo or picture of where she was going in front of her. She hadn't been able to do that until almost three years ago.

_'Or, you hadn't known you could do it until then?'_ She questioned herself. She had learned a lot of strange things about herself after she lost..._him._

Becoming aware of the presence behind her, Anna pushed over on the window sill to make room for Ginny.

The girl said nothing while she leaned against the window frame. She stared into the large forest with the same sadness in her bright brown eyes, that Anna held in her own.

"It must be beautiful." Anna whispered as the younger girl turned to look at her, and took note of what Anna was gazing at. A small smile crept across Ginny's face, and her sadness seemed to fade.

"I wouldn't know. It's forbidden."

"All the best things are." Anna sighed as she stared longingly into the forest, pleading for another waft of the Holm Oak scent to float towards her.

When it didn't come, Anna let the thoughts of home wash over her before she put them to the back of her mind for the night…there would be time to catch the scent for one last wonderful time before she left tomorrow. She knew when that time came; she would not want to leave it behind.

Shaking free of her somber mood, she placed a beam across her face and turned to face Ginny with her mischievous glint returning to her forest green eyes.

"So tell me, why is it forbidden?"

"Well, first of all because it's called the Forbidden Forest. As a school rule, students aren't allowed to go in there. As one of their own rules though, my brothers, Harry and Hermione never seem to let a year go by without venturing in." Ginny laughed to herself, as she turned to smile at her family.

Fred and George were looking at the pair of them suspiciously, wondering what the two girls were smiling over at them for.

"So George, where exactly does the Forbidden Forest lead to?" Anna pulled herself away from the window, and settled her tired limbs once more onto the couch. She kept her back rigidly straight, in an attempt to prevent herself from falling into the comforts of sleep once more.

"You know, I don't exactly know? We've always tried to keep close to the outskirts of the forest…you never know what might sneak up on you in there." A thoughtful look settled across the group as they all seemed to wonder the same question. Almost in unison, they shuddered.

_'Oooh. Exciting.'_ Anna thought after witnessing the shudder.

"You've never walked through the entire thing, and you went to school here for how many years?" If it was out of bounds, then it had to be for some unbelievable, awe inspiring reason.

"I don't think any student in their entire seven years at Hogwarts, has ever made it through the forest. Even if they have tried to." Hermione had, for lack of a better word, a forbidding tone to her voice as she said this.

"So what, all year long you just stay in the castle grounds?" She knew the place was big, that much was evident. Surely it wasn't big enough to entertain a person for an entire year?

"Pretty much, yeah. I mean there's always Hogsmeade. That's the village just beyond the castle grounds. After Zonko's joke shop, what more would a studious young boy need?" Fred winked.

"Don't forget about Honeydukes!" Harry mentioned.

"Or The Three Broomsticks. What I'd do for a butterbeer right now…" Ron wistfully added.

"What the fuck is butterbeer?" Anna let her full disgust come across in her voice. She hated butter with a passion. After living in the Mediterranean, she learned that olive oil was far superior in taste.

"What's butterbeer? Only the most wonderful drink ever created by human kind!" Ron was startled at her lack of knowledge concerning the sickly sounding drink.

"Harry, Sirius must have some in his drink stash surely?" Fred inquired, already on his feet moving towards the cabinet at the other end of the sitting room.

"Afraid not mate. If it hasn't matured for a hundred odd years, then it's not likely going to be in his collection."

"Not to worry. Come along George, I think it's time we paid a visit to Madam Rosemerta."

"Fred you can't possibly be thinking of walking all the way to the Three Broomsticks now?" Hermione indignantly rose up from her seat beside the fireplace.

"Why not? It's only a stroll down a few floors, past an old crone and up through a trapdoor. We'll be back in no time." George sauntered through the portrait that his brother was holding open.

"Yeah, don't worry Anna; we won't let your taste buds be denied the treasure that is butterbeer for much longer." With a final bow and a wink out through the portrait, Fred followed his brother.

Half an hour later, and a deep yawn came from Anna as she settled back further into the couch. She had been waging a war with her self since the twins left, fighting to keep her eyes open. Her body felt as if it was slowly shutting down, although she made no conscious decision to go to sleep. Her limbs felt heavy and weak, but it was her head that seemed to be out of focus. Her mind felt like it was wading through murky water, as she tried to follow the conversation.

When the portrait hole opened, Anna didn't have the energy to find out who it was.

"So, who wants a drink?" Sirius Black clapped his hands together as he stood between the two couches, his eyes gazing over all of their relaxed forms. His clapping made Anna flinch, as it assaulted her ear drums.

However, she still immediately managed to lift her head at the mention of alcohol, and was regarded by Sirius' concerned stare.

"Anna, are you sure you wouldn't rather go to bed?" After him voicing the thought of going to bed now, Anna rose up and willed her eyelids to stay open.

"I'd rather that drink, if you don't mind. I desperately need it." She was so drowsy that she feared her words were about to come out slurred.

Sirius was over and back from the huge wooden drinks cabinet in three strides, setting a large glass into her hand filled with drink. The harsh smell of whiskey that always smelled so sweet to her was reviving her already.

"Cheers." She waited for him to raise his own glass to hers, before knocking back the tingling liquid, setting her mouth ablaze with it's wonderful numbing traits. Drinking through half the glass like a fish, she let out a deep sigh before setting it down on the arm rest beside her. God knows how badly she needed that.

"Where's Lupin?" Harry asked. He and Ron had refrained from taking a drink, preferring to wait for Fred and George to arrive back with the beer.

"Gone to wait for Tonks in his office. Andromeda's taking care of Teddy for the night." A smile washed over Sirius' face at the mention of Lupin's young son. He was the exact same as his mother: An infectious ball of energy that never managed to settle down.

"I take it Tonks is planning on enjoying herself tonight so then?" Ginny laughed along with the others.

"Oh, doesn't she always." Sirius smiled again.

Sirius had just settled himself down onto the couch opposite Anna with a careless grace. A deep sigh escaped his perfect lips as he immersed himself in the conversation taking place around him.

Anna was focusing on his elegant fingers running over the brim of his glass, lifting and balancing alternately on the rim. His easy movements were like a swaying pocket watch in front of her, hypnotizing her.

Her eyes glassed over soon, no longer paying attention to what was really happening. She was just sinking deeper and deeper into a zombie like state.

Anna knew it must have happened gradually, but it was a sudden realization to her when she noticed that she had stopped following his movements lazily, and started analyzing them. She recognized a familiarity in them that she learned only from watching, never practicing.

_'Take away that glass and swap it for a few ivory keys, and I don't care how bad it sounds. Put that man behind a piano and he would captivate any audience.'_

Anna interests were certainly captured. Now that she had something to ponder, she felt the lethargy in her mind slowly drain away. Sifting through her senses, she felt each of them become revitalized.

_'Must be the drink. The cause of, and solution to all of life's problems.'_

"…Charlie said he'd call over for a bit. Can I get you another glass Anna?" Sirius' mention of her name brought her right back into the conversation. The relaxed mood in the room slightly agitated her, as she spontaneously jumped from the couch. She felt as if she had just been struck by lightening.

_'You should know by now that a few hundred bolts of electricity flowing through your body has quite a different effect, A.'_ Her mind had been instantly immersed in such a carefree mood, that a scowl didn't even disturb her smiling face at the thought of anything Paladin related.

"Oh…that was interesting." Her latest movements were a puzzle to Anna, but she couldn't bring herself to wonder why. Scratching her head, while turning in a slow, confused circle, she rested her eyes on Sirius' questioning gaze and smiled.

"Seeing as I'm up, I'll get more for both of us." Pouring a glass for both of them, Anna took a deep drink to clear her head even more.

_'Backwards as it may sound, the burning of alcohol is just the thing to clear a muddled mind'._ Yes, it was definitely the alcohol working its magic through her veins.

_'Tiredness must have been some fucked up withdrawal symptoms…or something.'_

She felt herself on the verge of trembling as butterflies settled in her stomach. _'Why the fuck do I have butterflies? Nervousness is a feeling that shy, weak or socially awkward people get…why is it happening to me?' _ Angry about her bi-polar mood swings for the past while, Anna forgot all about her trouble, when the personification of the word walked through the portrait hole.

"We're back everyone." Fred Weasley positively bounced into the room, his other half following suit right on his heels.

"And we've brought along a straggler." George Weasley was followed by _another_ red headed man. Instead of bounding in like an excited terrier though, this one just stuck to normal human walking habits.

"Are you serious?" The sentence escaped Anna's lips as soon as the thought was formed in her mind.

"Well, who else would I be?" Sirius chuckled along to his own joke, yet again. Unsure of who Anna was talking to, Sirius had to pick up the opportunity. Everyone was so careful about the context they used that word in these days…

"Five older brothers? You must get away with bloody murder at home Ginny!" The whole room fell into an awkward sort of silence, as Ginny and everyone else kept their now forced smiles intact. *

"Too right she does." A voice beside Anna broke the tension, and she gratefully turned around to greet it.

"Charlie Weasley. Nice to meet you Anna." Anna reached out to shake Charlie's hand, noticing with a slight irritation that he already knew about her.

Charlie was shorter that the rest of his brothers. But what he lacked in height, he made up for in muscle. His handshake was firm, and when Anna was almost looking down into his blue eyes, she regretfully recognised the thoughts taking place behind that look.

It was different to the youth filled one's Anna received from Fred and George, and it was a look that she hadn't mourned the loss of through out the course of the day.

She internally sighed, maintaining her smile as she released his hand. They both made their way over to where Fred and George were happily handing out bottles of beer.

Anna knew she was extremely beautiful. Anyone who is and claims they aren't are lieing. Beauty is an asset to be used and applied to everyday life, just the same as a cunning wit or a knowledge of firearms. But unlike whats inside your mind, people always judge you first on what they see.

Every time she met someone new, she always waited for the jealous glares from girls, as they watched boys and men gaze at her as if she were a Victoria's Secret angel or something. _'Don't get me wrong, more often than not it works in my favour. Sometimes it'd just be nice if people noticed something else.'_

Anna never stayed around new people long enough for it to affect her. A week later, they were forgotten about, and so were their feelings.

"Here boys. How much do I owe you?" Sirius was rifling through his pockets, looking back and forth between the twins.

"Oh nothing Sirius mate. We got this one." Fred waved Sirius off without a second glance, as he began opening bottles.

"No really. Here George take this will you." Sirius tried to hand a few silver coins over to the other twin. The money in his hand was ignored, as George handed him a bottle for the other hand.

"Sirius, it's alright mate we got it. Don't make us fight you, 'cause you know we'll win." George winked at Sirius as they tipped their glasses.

"We'll see about that later mate." Sirius just smiled and took a drink.

Anna watched the twins with a smile on her face, as they started fighting again over who lost the other crate. She rolled her eyes, wondering how they even managed to lose a crate in the first place. It wasn't as if you could just slip one into your back pocket.

"Yeah, you can roll your eyes now. You should've tried growing up with them." Charlie Weasley stood beside Anna, not finding the sight as entertaining as she was.

"I'd say you had some job keeping those two in line." Charlie and her watched on, as both boys began emptying each others pockets, punching and slapping as they went along.

_'Ok, so maybe magic weirdo's can hold crate's in their pockets.'_

"I wouldn't know about it really. I always left it up to Bill. The wrath of the oldest brother and all that…I hear you've already met him?" Charlie laughed teasingly as he turned to face a none too pleased looking Anna.

"Don't worry. I think what you did was really great for the girls. Getting them out into the real world, even if it was just for a few minutes. Those kids could use a break."

Whatever was going on in the lives of these lovable magical freaks, Anna had no desire to find out what it was for the rest of her stay. She had her own shit to deal with.

Past experience with listening to other people's problems always led her down a thorny and grief filled road. She didn't have time to accompany any one else on their struggles any more. She had enough people to look after, as well as fighting towards the bloody and gruesome end of her own violence stricken road. These had each other, they'd make it through alright.

"I think we all could Charlie mate." Sirius walked behind and joined the pair of them, giving Charlie a gentle slap on the shoulder. Charlie started smiling again when he turned away from his arguing family.

Fred Weasley tentatively walked towards them and carefully handed a bottle over to Anna. His eyes were full of admiration for the bottle that appeared to him as important as an ancient relic. Or rather, admiration for what was in the bottle.

"Well, what do you think?" Anna was staring skeptically at the aptly named butterbeer. Swirling the golden coloured content round in the bottle, she looked up into Fred's encouraging face and couldn't repress her smile.

Turning to face the rest of the groups smiling faces, she lingered on Sirius' sly grin for just a moment before turning back to Fred.

"Well, bottoms up." She shrugged and braced herself for something sickeningly sweet. Taking a deep slug of the drink, she was surprised to find it tasted a bit like butterscotch. Anna didn't like butterscotch.

"It's eh…well, it's not that bad." She said half heartedly, taking in Ron Weasley's disbelieving expression.

"I think I'll just stick to the whiskey though guys." Replacing the bottle in her hand for a glass, Sirius and Charlie joined in with Anna's laughter as both Fred and George feigned mock offence.

"Well I never…" Their teasing went on for a few minutes, and was much appreciated by their audience at the end of their tirade.

* * *

"Wotcher." Anna was immediately entranced by the woman with the bubble gum pink hair that strolled in a while later. Well, who couldn't be really? She certainly knew how to make an entrance, knocking over a coat rack on the way.

Fortunately, Remus seemed to be expecting something like that to happen. He caught it from behind before it made contact with the ground. The pink haired woman's shocked expression turned into a sweet smile that mirrored the one of the man behind her.

Everyone else just nodded as if it was to be expected.

"Oh you must be Anna!" The woman bounded excitedly over to Anna. She had dark, twinkling eyes. Anna shook hands with the woman, who almost rattled her arm out of its socket.

"I'm Tonks by the way."

"It's nice to meet you Tonks." Anna got caught up in Tonks' enthusiasm, an idiotic smile taking over her face. God the woman's excitement was contagious. Muted laughter was pouring out of Anna, as Tonks kept regarding her with admiration.

"Nicer to meet you. Really show's the state of our government, when one young woman can cause utter chaos in the space of an hour."

Anna got ready to go on the offensive until she noticed Tonks was still smiling.

"Well done Anna. A good kick up the arse is what all those pencil pushers in Scrimgeour's office needed. Couldn't have done a better job myself." Tonks released Anna's hand and moved over, so that Remus could join them.

"What can I say? I have a natural talent for pissing off authority figures." Anna laughed along with the rest of them.

"Well you've found yourself a right group of rebels to slot yourself in with in here."

"Oh come on Tonks. We're not that bad." George Weasley insisted with an angelic smile.

"Your right. You and your brother are worse." Remus said after accepting a foaming bottle from the laughing boy.

Anna was sitting between Charlie and Tonks, who was still going on about Scrimgeour's reaction to the howlers and letter's that arrived at his office earlier. Anna was slightly scared by the idea of a talking piece of paper that burst into flames.

_'Magic people are crazy'_ was a thought that flowed continuously through her mind as she learned the meaning behind more magical terms. She was shocked to find out that Floo Travel actually meant traveling through fireplaces.

A few glasses of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey later and the rooms laughter was interrupted by a grunting voice outside the portrait.

"That'll probably be Hagrid. He never can remember the bloody password." Sirius finished pouring himself another glass of whiskey, and strode over to the door with the bottle in hand.

"Every time I come up here, I remember that bloody password until I reach the top o' those stairs. O' course I'd have more luck findin' a decent bit o' grub in Knockturn Alley than gettin' through him without a password."**

"I thought you would Hagrid mate. Come on in." Sirius laughed as he stood aside for the owner of that booming voice to enter the room.

Ten seconds later, Anna was staring open jawed at the giant that had just squeezed his way in through the portrait hole.

"Ah, and you mus' be Anna. I heard a lot about yeh." The giant strode over to the couch in barely four strides. He loomed behind her as Anna got up and walked around to stand beside him, all the while never taking her eyes off the huge man with shaggy black hair and small, beetle black eyes.

Returning his smile, Anna remembered that she was staring. She hated when people stared.

"Nice to meet you Hagrid. You lot aren't going to start telling me that giants exist along side unicorns and pixies now, are you?" Anna joked, after shaking Hagrid's hand. She watched the smiles of their group falter for a moment, and listened to Hagrid's nervous laugh beside her.

"No way." Anna said, watching the giant man's face drop a bit, as she turned to stare at him in disbelief.

She became aware of Sirius walking up behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Anna, this isn't something to worry about-"

"Oh my god, that is…but seriously?...I mean." She gaped at all of them, before an expression of pure irritation fell on her face.

"I've been stumbling around a magic castle all day, talking to paintings, walking through them and watching...fucking, I don't know whatever the fuck else. And all this time, not one of you thought to mention that you have a friend...who's a giant."

The group stared on in confusion, trying to gauge when Anna would run to inform the people with pitchforks and torches that there was a giant in the room.

"I don't know about some people Hagrid...I honestly don't." Anna addressed Hagrid with mock disappointment while shaking her head.

After taking a somber drink of her newly refilled glass of firewhiskey, a bright smile settled across her face. Completely placing her attention on Hagrid, she jokingly patted his arm. "So Hagrid, what do you make of all this 'Floo Powder' business. Surely there's safer ways to travel than sticking your feet in a fire grate like?"

* * *

"Is she joking?" Tonks gripped Remus' arm, whispering conspiratoraly in his ear loud enough for the rest of them to hear her.

They all watched the banter taking place between Anna and Hagrid in complete silence.

"You know, I really don't think she is." A gentle smile spread across Lupin's face, as he turned away from the laughing pair and looked at the rest of the group around him.

"Well…that could have gone a lot worse." Sirius contemplated the empty glass of firewhiskey in his hands. He looked around at the rest of them optimistically, before his trademark barking laughter erupted.

Sirius was unsure what Dumbledore's plan had been for informing Anna on magical beings. In the current state of the wizarding world, according to Voldemort and his followers, magical beings fell into the same slot as muggle's and muggleborn's.

As well as that, there had always been the fair amount of wizarding population who viewed magical beings as…well, not part of the wizarding population to put it kindly.

"Maybe we could tell her about your furry little problem too Moony, eh?" Sirius joked, and drew their attention away from Hagrid and Anna.

Still unsure about whether or not to believe their luck with finding a muggle who would be excited about meeting a half-giant, he turned to refill his glass. He raised his grey eyes again in time to notice the tell tale green flames erupt from the fireplace. Watching the look that was shared between the younger Weasley's, along with Harry and Hermione, he knew they were thinking along the same lines as himself.

_'There may be trouble ahead..._' he couldn't stop himself from singing under his breath, earning a few laughs from Tonks.

Sirius had always got on with Fleur. She was part Veela, and was no doubt one of the most breathtakingly beautiful witch's Sirius had ever seen in his life. Once you got to know her, she wasn't really all that bad. She was a wonderful wife to Bill, anyone could see. And clearly, she had guts…well you'd need a lot them to stand up to Molly Weasley.

But the thing about Fleur was…well, she liked to speak her mind. Some people would call her confident. Most would say that she's an arrogant bitch. She wasn't really a bad person. Sirius got the impression that she just never understood that some of the things she said could be taken offensively. Sirius just could not bring himself to blame it on his favourite language that was French though.

Ever the gentleman, he declined revealing her less appealing personality traits to her. It was obvious that Bill loved her.

_'Well you'd need to wouldn't you? To put up with that all day, it'd take a lot more than just the general 'veelaness'.' _ Charlie and Sirius had surmised one day, after Bill informed them that he couldn't come out for drinks because he was going 'cake tasting' the next morning.

A near last straw for Charlie, who had to rearrange his brothers surprise stag night. To be fair, he probably should have informed Fleur about the party.

It was Tonks who had finally had it out with Fleur though. Weeks of short comments about 'zis and zat' had finally come to a head in Grimmauld Place kitchen. It was half way through an Order meeting, and once the wedding was mentioned (again), Tonks could not find the will to contain herself.

_July 2007_

_"I am sick to death of hearing about this bloody wedding!" Tonks banged her head down against the long kitchen table, her trademark bubblegum hair fading into a dark magenta colour._

_"Tonks, really. That's not fair." Remus turned a scolding glance on his young wife, but she only looked up to meet his with irritation._

_"We have more important things to discuss than wasting time planning around one party! Everyone else has to make sacrifices. Why can't it just wait?" Tonks hair was quickly darkening an angry flame colour. _

_An awkward silence filled the room, the tinkling of dishes silencing as Molly froze. _

_"Why can't eet just wait, Nymphadora? Why can't we all just pretend zat after zis war, there will be time for me and Bill to be married?" _

_While everyone else sat in apprehensive silence, there was nothing silent about Fleur. Even when her blue eyes turned icy, there was still an unwavering elegance about the young woman, her fierce gaze locked on Tonks._

_"Oh yes, zat's right. Because we may not be 'ere at zee end of zis war. I don't know what you are all shaking your 'eads for, because eet's true! Zere is no point denying eet anymore, you are all resting your lives in ze hands of one…boy!" Fleur was throwing daring looks to everyone, challenging them to speak up._

_"Fleur, do not speak about my god son like he is just a child!" Sirius rose up from the table, sick of hearing this argument. When Harry was fifteen, he wasn't allowed to be involved because he wasn't 'of age'. Now he's seventeen, and they were still trying to make excuses to keep him out! _

_"But 'ee is Sirius! Why can't all of you just see zat? When I was seventeen, ze biggest decision I had to make was whether or not to leave my family 'ome for a few months! What were you doing, when you were seventeen? Training to defeat ze most powerful dark wizard of all time? Always burdened by ze fact zat witches and wizards everywhere are depending on you to save zem? And 'ee 'asn't even finished school yet!" Sirius sat down sulking, thinking of all the things he did when he was young._

_Go to rock concerts, travel across __Europe__, lounge around town with James, Remus…and Peter. He'd never even had a real job before…_

_"I care for Harry. I truly do, and I deeply respect him. But ze fact still remains zat 'ee is just a boy. Is eet such a bad thing for Bill and I to want all ze people we care about together for just one more day? Before most of my new family returns to Hogwarts? Or worse again, ze real world." Fleur's eyes glanced over everyone at the table, before coming to rest on Tonks'.  
_

_Later, when everyone was leaving, Tonks hung back in the kitchen to talk to Fleur alone. When both women came out into the hallway, they were wiping tears from their eyes and holding hands._

_"Women." Sirius shook his head sympathetically at Bill, Remus and Arthur Weasley, as the latter's wife went up to both young girls and pulled them into a motherly hug. He did not envy these men._

Honestly, he thought that Fleur was one of the reasons he was put off by marriage. Imagine arriving home to your gorgeous wife one night, and instead of kissing her, you get pots thrown at you because you forgot to put the toilet seat down. Extreme, yes, but women get extremely unpredictable when their mad. And it does not take a lot to set them off…

"Sirius darling. We brought zis for you." Admittedly, Sirius was quite fond of Fleur. If you were willing (or forced) to get to know her, then you'd see how kind she really was. Clearly visible amongst her traits of bluntness and intelligence, was the fact that she adored Bill.

"Oh thanks love. You're too good to me, you know that?" He winked at her, as they greeted each other in the typical European way. Sirius studied the vintage bottle of wine Fleur had given him from her father's vineyard.

Fleur immediately settled herself on the other side of Tonks, the two of them breaking into an excitable chatter already. The pair of them were thick as thieves after 'that night'; as it came to be known by the rest of the Order members.

"So, what did Dumbledore have to say?" Remus asked Bill as soon as he was sitting down.

"He didn't seem too put out by it. Just said that he'd look into it... And that if I could find anything at home to bring it around. I can't find those bloody folders though. They're probably still at The Burrow." Bills mouth curved downwards in a scowl as he thought about this. Surely he had spent the last hour at home searching for the papers, while venting to his attentive wife about Anna and her escapade with the young girls that Fleur viewed as younger sisters.

If this was the case, the impending meeting between Fleur and Anna did not bode well for any who would be present. Not unless someone in the room was a miracle worker.

"Well, seeing as there's nothing more you can do about it tonight, why not just kick back and relax!" Sirius handed Bill over a glass of whiskey. He didn't think they had much to worry about. Regretfully, Anna didn't plan on hanging around too long. Which was a pity, because she had already provided them with an abundance of entertainment, and she'd only been here for a few hours.

Dumbledore's nonchalant reaction did make him happier though. Women can be dangerous enough creatures as it is…and this particular one would be sleeping across the hall from him.

"I don't know. Something about her still doesn't sit right with me. I'll leave it up to Fleur. She'll have her sussed out after a few minutes." Bill laughed awkwardly at this. He had full knowledge of how intimidating his wife could be.

"Ten minutes under that gaze and I bet you Anna will crack." George Weasley butted in, eager to join in now that the heavy conversation was over.

"Don't be so daft George. I reckon Anna could take her." Ginny Weasley said with an approving tone, interested in anything force that would stand in front of 'Phlegm'. Ginny loved the older girl like a sister, but would openly admit that Fleur could stand to be knocked down a peg or two.

"Well ladies and gentlemen; I for one know exactly how that meeting is going to turn out." Sirius gained all of their attention, stretching back into his seat and resting his legs on the antique table.

"And how is that, oh wise one?" Remus joked.

"Either very good…or very bad." Sirius glanced between Fleur and Anna, as if measuring them up.

"Oh yeah? And how'd you reckon that one?" Bill rolled his eyes at the young wizards' keen interest in Sirius' theory.

"Well, you see Bill, women are like lionesses." Their was a mocking seriousness to his voice, as he clasped his hands together. Making sure both Fleur and Tonks were still wrapped in their own conversation, and oblivious to their surroundings, he continued.

"Well, to be honest, each woman is unique to the different subspecies of 'big cats'. But for educational purposes, we'll keep it confined to lions." Sirius faced the attentive stares of the young males in the room as if he were doing them a favour.

Remus was shaking his head at the young men, remembering the attention Sirius commanded from a similar group many years ago.

Up in the Gryffindor Common room during their Marauder days, Sirius had imparted a lot of 'knowledge' to the Gryffindor males about the opposite sex. Remus recalled a fair amount of logic in it, but mostly it was just entertainment, as they all sat around and watched James apply Sirius' latest lesson to capturing the heart of Lily.

Ironically, all it took for James to win Lily over was for him to tell her, genuinely, how he felt. This almost adversely impacted Sirius' self proclaimed 'Love Doctor' status, until he informed them that Lily was one of the rare exceptions to every rule that applied to women. According to Sirius' infinite wisdom, those women were "few in number and hard to find...if you run into one, I only have one piece of advice. Run. Before you end up in a situation like James', which is a) hard to get into, but more importantly b) harder to get out of." Of course Sirius avoided commitment at all costs, so naturally he would have ran from any woman he could have had a future with.

"Ginny, I'd rather not listen to this. I can already feel the testosterone overwhelming me." Hermione and Ginny quickly retreated towards the safety of Tonks and Fleur. Settling themselves on the floor, they immediately broke into conversation with the two older women, after Fleur swept both younger girls into gentle hugs.

"Example number one: The 'lioness greeting ceremony'." Sirius pointed towards their subjects.

"Which is what exactly?" Bill was especially intent on getting Sirius to slip up.

"This shows just exactly how much you know about women Bill. When they meet each other, they always hug or kiss or some other nonsense like that. It reaffirms their social ties. Gives them something to familiarize with, if you will." Sirius turned to Bill as if he were a lecturer answering one of his students' questions.

In his own mind, he was. These young boys were lucky to be able to learn this from him. He had to find everything out for himself.

"Ok, fair enough I'll give you that one. What's you next point?" Bill was surprised by the logic behind Sirius' words, but still wasn't convinced that Sirius had genuinely put thought into his latest idea.

"I don't know why you're laughing William. You knew I was more than just a pretty face...But we can basque in my glory later. Moving onto my next point which is: most of them hunt their prey in packs." His eyes were winking at them now, as George Weasley scoffed.

"That'll be the day. Fred here is lucky if he even gets home with one girl. Never mind a 'pack' of them."

"No, none of you contain enough of the alpha male essence to get you into one of those situations yet. But what i was actually referring to was the pack of women that descend on you when you cross one of them. Ever been on the receiving end of the best-friends vengeance after the break up?"

"Is it just me, or is he actually making sense?" Bill whispered to Remus. He was stunned by the amount of thought Sirius' had put into this. Clearly something was a foot behind it, but before he could question it, the man was off again.

"Thirdly, a woman will eat you alive if you hurt their cub. Example, Molly Weasley." Bill stayed silent at this statement. No one in their right frame of mind could question Sirius' example if they wanted to retain the use of their hearing for the rest of their lives.

"What I want to know is how you know so much about 'big cats'?" Lupin broke the awed silence, before the young men he admired so much began to idolize Sirius anymore.

"I watched a documentary about them on that muggle television thing before." Sirius relaxed back in the couch with a superior glint in his eyes, waving off Remus' question as if him watching muggle television was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"_You_ watched a-"

"Sorry to interrupt Lupin, but I think we're about to watch Sirius' theory be put into motion." Ron gulped, as he watched Fleur rise from her chair with her customary ice queen smile on her face.

"Hello Anna. I am Fleur Weasley. I believe you 'ave already met my husband Bill. He 'as told me so much about you." Fleur spoke to Anna with the same straightforwardness and confidence she did everything with. But there was a hidden suspicion behind her eyes, when she spoke about Bill. When she offered her hand to Anna, the other girl seemed to take it without really realising what she was doing.

There was astonishment in her sparkling green eyes, as she looked at Fleur. No one was unaffected by the young French woman's beauty, but women generally kept their admiring gazes to themselves. Anna blatantly stared at Fleur, processing the sight of her and finally shaking her hand.

"Bonjour Fleur. C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer." Anna spoke gently to Fleur in unfaltering French. She appeared to be still astonished by Fleur's beauty, which was more than anyone could say for Fleur, when her icy smile into a warm beam.

"Vous parlez français!" Fleur grasped Anna's delicate hand in both of her own pale one's as excitement began bubbling within. Both women began conversing in rapid French, the only feature distinguishing one from the other was the slight slur that started to make an appearance in Anna's words. She was going through the fire whiskey like she was building up a years supply of liquid courage.

None of them had ever seen Fleur take to someone new this well before. Most of their initial encounters with her had been brief, due to the fact that Molly had taken an instant dislike towards the woman that was stealing away her first born. But these two seemed like old friends by the time the men turned their shocked gazes towards each other in amazement.

"Like I said, common ground." Sirius smirked at them triumphantly, winking at Bill as he listened into the conversation taking place in French with a smile on his face. For some reason, it wasn't well known that Sirius Black spoke 'the language of love' fluently.

* * *

* Ginny has six older brothers, but Percy still isn't on speaking terms with the family.

** I forgot to add in in the previous chapter that the portrait of Sir Cadogan is the one hanging outside Sirius' room. Nothing important, but everyone know's how annoying he seems to be.

Again, sorry for the French if it's wrong. I'm assuming it is cause I used google translator.

Review please :D


	12. The Cure

Finally, I bought myself a new laptop, that isn't as slow as the day! Expect more updates from now on guys...until the dreaded leaving cert rears it's head in June. This is just a short chapter to kind of tide the story over until I put up the next chapter, which should be in about a week, if all goes to plan! Hope you like it so far :D

P.S: Everyone able to work out what the 'violent delight' is?

* * *

_These violent delights have violent ends_

_And in their triumph die - **William Shakespeare**_

Awareness crawled through Anna's senses when she reluctantly woke up with a pounding headache. Never finding herself reliable when it came to remembering what day of the week it was, she assumed it was a Sunday judging by the excess number of whispering voices around her.

_'Whatever fucking day it is, clearly students don't have school…which clearly fuckin' sucks.' _Until she could dump her woes onto others, she would have to make sure her own self pity was deep enough to wallow in.

"Merlin, he is going to feel rough when he gets up!"…"Maybe we should wake him up? You know he'll be mad if we don't."…"No, Hermione that is a horrible idea. We should just leave now. And preferably get some breakfast."

Anna lay still, where ever it was she ended up, praying that her hangover was the kind that felt better when you got up. Not too keen on putting it to the test just yet, she settled for making a threatening growl or moan to let the others know that she was awake and extremely pissed off about that fact. A fact which would soon become their misfortune...

Unfortunately for her though, her brain was a bit slow off the mark this morning. It had probably gone into lockdown in the early hours of this morning, turning its self off so that it wouldn't have to deal with whatever embarrassing spectacle she made of herself this time. Luckily for her, she's done so many embarrassing things over the course of her life that at only twenty years old, Anna has managed to accomplish what most people are unable to do during their entire life time: She has become completely immune to embarrassment.

This would work out well for her; if she decided on dealing with the perpetrators of what she believed, should be a crime punishable by law- No talking in the presence of the hungover. A short trip to the Siberian wilderness in the nip sounded like a fair deal for them. _'I could think of a better punishment if my thought process wasn't interrupted by their constant talking!' _Five minutes later, and Anna had still not regained the ability to use her facial muscles.

"Yeah Harry that's a great idea mate. You go and find some bacon, a bit of toast and a throw in a few sausages too. Then bring a plate back for me."…"And for me. And somebody bring a camera, I know people who would pay good money for a photo of that…"…"Yes, 'people' like him when he see's it. Your mother would haunt him until the end of his days if she seen a photo of him like that…"…"Please just get the bloody camera Hermione. Besides, I was thinking about Tonks or Lupin, it's his birthday soon and-"

"If you don't shut up, the only photo's that will be taken are the ones of me ripping out your vocal chords." Anna (almost) praised God when she was finally able to issue a threat to those around her. She hoped they realised how annoyed she was, because actually enforcing said threat was not likely to happen anytime soon in the foreseeable future. Her body was just not up to that sort of physical activity yet, and it was for this reason that she (almost) cursed God for letting her get herself into another one of these situations. This tug of war with her feelings toward Him was a situation she found herself in often. The place and time always varied, but the essentials like headaches, cramps and dehydration always remained the same. Come to think of it, the time didn't change that often either...it always happened when she woke up.

"What's the story, morning glory?" One of the Weasley twins teased her after a few seconds of shocked silence. _'Clearly, they must have thought it impossible for somebody who looks so dead, to actually be alive.' _Anna deduced this was the reason for the long pause. If she looked even half as bad on the outside as felt on the inside, she knew she wouldn't have looked out of place at a funeral home…inside one of the coffins.

"It's doesn't bode well for one of you, that your _voice_ is also identical to your brothers…" Anna hissed at one of the twins in her harshest still hoarse voice. With light beaming in from somewhere, she rolled over looking for a place to shield her eyes…and kept rolling, until she landed onto something soft and alive. Something residing on the floor.

"Bollocks." Anna growled, opening her bleary eyes. She had no intention of moving, and didn't bother looking to see who she was lying on. She just rested her head against their slowly moving chest and begged for who ever it was to stay asleep. With all her senses numbed from the amount of alcohol she consumed, all she could discern about this person was that they were wearing a wonderfully soft shirt.

"Have a nice trip off Anna?" Fred Weasley barely managed to speak out through his laughter. Maneuvering her neck into a position that it did not want to pursue, Anna finally got around to glaring up at his smirking face. He was leaning over the table that was now blocking her view of the couch opposite (and the recent additions to her 'enemy list').

_'Why did I sleep on the couch, when there is a bed waiting for me right across the hall?' _Another stupid decision she made while under the influence, yet again. She was completely sure that there definitely wasn't a good reason for it at the time either.

"It could have been worse. Someone broke my fall." Anna closed her eyes again, until the chest she was lying on started to vibrate. Strangled grunts reached her ears, and the person beneath her started to shift about slowly.

"Lucky me." Was all Sirius Black could rasp out, but the irritation was held more in his storm grey eyes than in his husky voice.

"Shh. Your dreaming Sirius, go back to sleep." Anna whispered to him in her gentlest voice, hoping that he was feeling as bad as her. If he was, it wouldn't be hard to convince him that he had to be dreaming, because it shouldn't be possible to feel this bad and still live through it.

Without waiting to see if he bought it or not, Anna settled her head back on his chest and was grateful at least for the fact that she was lying on his soft, warm shirt instead of the stiff sheets of the hospital wing. His muscles were releasing some of the tension they held after her 'dropping in' on top of him.

Drumming her fingers along his chest, she used the rhythm to distract herself from the thundering that was taking place in her head. The tempo followed the beat of his steadily thumping heart, as she sat listening to it in the muffled silence of the room. _'Thump-thump, thump-thump...thump-thump...thump. Thump..' _Anna didn't register the fact that his heart beat started slowing down, relaxing as her tapping fingers accompanied it. Every so often the surface of her fingers would meet the soft flesh of Sirius' chest, stretched tautly over lean muscle.

A few moments later, she felt calloused fingertips brush along her brow line. Moving her head at angle she hadn't known it could move in, she watched as Sirius gently pushed her hair off her face, until she could clearly stare into the now calm pools of silver grey.

He was using his arms to hold himself up gingerly off the floor. Anna could feel his body trembling as his muscles started shaking, still weak from just waking up. His confused face was smiling down at her, his irritation seemingly forgotten for something that she couldn't care about right now, or ever. His calloused and rough fingers were lazily sweeping through her thick hair, pushing every last strand out of her line of sight. She shivered when his hand finally came to rest against the sensitive skin on the back of her neck.

_'How can something so rough, feel so gentle?' _She closed her eyes slowly and wondered, leaning back into his calming touch.

"Anna, what were you doing?" His curious voice was still husky, sending even more rumbling through his chest, making Anna relax further against him. She was trying to escape reality into her hangover comfort world, where everything was made of cloud pillows and sound proof walls. Just thinking about it, made her sink back down against him. She threw her arm over him, just underneath his ribs, and buried her face in the crook of her elbow. It was difficult to tear her gaze away from his tranquil gaze.

"I've done too much activity this morning already. Just lay there for a few more minutes, you'll be grand. Here, have a pillow." Not in the mood to accommodate anyone's needs but her own, Anna reached up and searched blindly for a cushion on the cursed couch beside her. Suddenly, Sirius went rigid beneath her and placed a tight grip on her arm.

"Anna please stop moving. Your knee is in a very unforgiving position for me." Halting her movements, Anna tried to account for her body's whereabouts, without actually moving. Realising that one false move on her part could possibly leave the man beneath her at the mercy of a bag of frozen peas for the day; Anna abandoned her dream of waiting out her hangover in sleep.

"Sirius, you're breaking my heart you know." She whined as she reluctantly sat up to find herself straddling him, _again. _The last time she found herself in this position, both of them had just escaped death by drowning. If the grim reaper came for her now, it was highly debatable whether or not Anna would have welcomed him with open arms.

"There is a God." She whispered to no one in particular when her eyes fell upon what truly was a rare sight: On the table in front of her sat a half full bottle of whiskey.

_'There's hope for this day yet, when a bottle turns out to be half full instead of half empty.' _

Using what remained of her will-power to raise herself off the ground; Anna grabbed the bottle and hugged the cold glass to her chest before collapsing on the couch behind her. She huddled herself into the corner of the leather couch, waiting silently on deaths door to regain enough strength in her weak hands to twist off the cap.

"Are you serious?" It was a public statement of how badly Sirius Black felt, and would be remembered in times to follow as a testament to the fact that hangovers are indeed, at times, accompanied by small mercies. The man didn't even open his mouth to give a smart answer as he lowered himself onto the couch beside Anna. Refusing to answer such a ridiculous question by some one who clearly wasn't as experienced with hangover's as she was, Anna continued removing the obstacle that barred her from the water of life. With the cap off, she braced herself before taking a swift drink.

_'In fairness to the poor lad, there's not many that are as experienced as you are with hangovers A. That's how you know that you have to make it worse, to make it better.'_

Anna cringed as the burning liquid hit the back of her throat, reawakening her taste buds and sense of smell. Like hot acid, it trickled into her stomach and started a motion that was indescribable to people who haven't been brave enough to just grow a pair and try 'the hair of the dog' cure. Tears began to form in her eyes, the salt stinging her dry, dehydrated skin as the uncontrollable shudders started wracking her stomach. _'It's better than the shakes. It's better than the shakes.' _She repeated to herself over and over again, waiting for her roaring stomach to settle down, taking deep breaths to prevent any remaining alcohol in her stomach from resurfacing. Mind over matter and all that, she would get through this. Anna always remembered that this was most likely the process used as inspiration to describe at least one of the circles of hell. However, she never actually grasped the gravity of how gruesome it really was until she forced herself through it again. She knew she would be grateful she did it in a few hours, but right now, she couldn't stop thinking one question over and over again. _'Why do I do this to myself?' _

And just like that, after thirty seconds of pure, evil and sadistic torture, it was all over. Her stomach stopped moving, her gag reflexes weren't protesting their uselessness anymore, and she finally began to breathe normally again.

"Thank God that's over." She sighed, watching as Ron Weasley went from pasty to pale in a matter of seconds. His horrified look was shared by some of the others in the room, while the rest just looked disgusted with what she had just done. Anna looked wistfully between the bathroom and her bedroom- _no, __the_ bedroom that housed all her things. Giving in to the fact that no one was going to willingly throw water over her, she forced herself off the couch and went to get a change of clothes.

_'Please let Frankie have pulled through for me again. A toothbrush would be far more appreciated than a vanilla scented body lotion right now.' _

Bringing the bottle with her, Anna stopped on the way to her room and spared a pitying look for Ron.

"Here. You look like you need this more than I do." She carefully handed over whatever was left of the whiskey to him, and marched into her room without sparing his disgusted expression a second glance.

"For what?" Ron grumbled from the couch. He stared over at Anna's open door, but his answer came from the other mysterious creature on the couch across from him.

"For the cure." Sirius Black was shuddering as he placed a silver hip flask on the antique table.

* * *

Twenty minutes later found Anna lounging on the couch along with the remainder of last nights participants. It almost killed her, but she was infinitely grateful when she finally managed to hunt out a tank top that had no sequins, no rhinestones and no Polaroid's of kissing couples in the bags Frankie had packed for her. She also found that Frankie had been gracious enough to gift her with _a_ pair, as in non-plural, of 'Boyeesh' (read: loose fitting) jeans. Able to comfortably relax once more, her long, still wet hair hung down her back. Some had nestled its way in under the fabric at the back of her neck, it's quickly disappearing coldness stopping the complimentary hangover hot flushes in their tracks.

"…What time was it, about half five when Charlie passed out? He was trying to stay awake after you challenged Hagrid to a thumb war. That's about it really. I just remember Sirius cracking out another bottle before I passed out." Fred Weasley had been filling Anna in on all the antics that had taken place last night.

"Hagrid sent an owl earlier to see if you were alright. He wrote something about the pair of you still going strong with the shots when he left at half six." George Weasley had been laughing for the past few minutes, since Anna mentioned that her thumb felt swollen.

"Oh God poor Hagrid. I doubt him leaving would have gone down well with me." Anna buried her face in the cardigan she had wrapped around her legs, the soft feeling of it some comfort to the ongoing ache inside her brain. She felt the couch tremble as Sirius' still hoarse bark laughed along with them.

"Anna you must be bloody mental!" Ginny Weasley shouted, to the dismay of everyone's sensitive hearing when she laid eyes on the long cardigan Anna had wrapped around her. Both Ginny and Hermione were wearing loose shorts and t-shirts, four jugs of ice cold water floating in front of them. The minute the chilled glasses were set down on the table, Ron, Harry, Fred and George lunged for them as if they were expecting the water to evaporate in front of their eyes.

"You're the one's that are away with the birds! We're not in the fuckin' Sahara like." Anna turned her head when she heard a low whine from Sirius. He was still laying in the exact same spot she had left him in, a light sheen of sweat forming across his brow.

"Too right. Those mental Egyptian wizards wouldn't put up with these conditions." Ron stated, complaining yet again about the heat outside. Anna chose to ignore what he just said, as did everyone else. She couldn't see what they were talking about for the life of her. Twenty five degrees was mild weather, at best.

Turning around again, she noticed Sirius contemplating the little that was left in the bottle of whiskey that she had rescued from Ron's ungrateful grasp. She had placed it securely on the couch beside her, and felt an instant surge of protectiveness wash over her.

She also took pity on Sirius, who had mentioned earlier that he wanted to shower, but the heat had soldered him to the couch with his own sweat. How attractive…Yet knowing how he was suffering, Anna decided to kill two birds with the one stone by protecting the remnants of the whiskey, and putting him out of his misery. Her heart almost melted when she seen the longing look filling his grey eyes as he watched her pour a glass of water. He hadn't yet regained the ability to speak without tearing his throat, and his eyes were pleading with her.

"Here Sirius. We wouldn't want you to stress yourself." He beamed at her when she handed him the glass that was half ice and half water. He guzzled the entire thing in one drink, his Adam's apple bobbing with every long gulp. When all the water was gone, the breath that escaped him could have been believed to have been one of a prisoner gasping fresh air for the first time.

"Thanks love. My mouth was as dry as Gandhi's flip flop." While using an expression that Anna was awed to hear come out of his mouth, Sirius' voice had lost its harsh tone, but still remained husky and low. No longer in pain, he managed to sit up and smile for the first time all morning…afternoon? What ever time it was.

_'Oh god when is this going to end?' _Anna mentally cried as another yawn escaped her lips. Her eyes weren't drooping again, but her brain was still undergoing some sort of jetlag. Taking long, deep breaths she placed her fingers on her temple's and started rubbing them, shielding her eyes from the sun's bright light. She left her sunglasses on the bed in the room, and though she knew she'd make it there unscathed, she wasn't entirely sure if her legs would support her on the way back.

She had mentioned something about feeling better after the shower; she didn't say she was cured.

_'It'd take a lot more than one drink for that…best to save it for the right moment though. When all else fails.' _She turned her gaze to the whiskey once more, wondering if it was worth it to get drunk again, just to avoid the headache. Maybe it would knock her out too?

But something kept nagging its way through the mess of her tired thoughts, something that she was supposed to do? What was it?

"I know...I'm not sure if it's worth it either." Sirius must have noticed her look of confusion. She was still staring at the bottle between them, and noticed that his body was angled towards it, the same question on his mind too, probably.

"Well, its getting to that stage now where it's not likely to get much worse." Anna forgot about her train of thought, caught up by the look of scared temptation on his face. There was a questioning smile lingering there too, as he stared at her.

"I know, but I think I've just gotten my appetite back? Might as well take advantage of it now, because dinner could swing either way…"

"Sirius, you go through this every Sunday and eat three times as much as everyone else, claiming that 'your stomach needs substance'." Hermione scoffed at Sirius, with the others in the room guffawing at her impression of the man.

"Believe me sweetheart, it's been a long time since I've felt like this. No thanks to Anna and her bad influences. I would have been quite happy to stop after that third bottle, but no…you had to insist, didn't you?" Sirius turned a mock glare to her, trying to pin the whole thing on her.

"Trust me; you are not the only one regretting those shots right now. But lest you blame me for leading you onto the path of temptation, I vaguely remember you finding the way yourself. It wasn't me who made those shot glasses soar across the room, so you can take the fall for that one all on your own." Anna nodded her head to him accusingly, meeting his laughing eyes.

As another bout of nausea attacked her stomach, Anna's gaze turned to a glare, as she growled at him. "It's you that has us reduced to this pitiful state right now." Both 'huffing' at eachother, the held their glares for a few moments, before dropping the desperate gazes to their potential saviour once more.

For a few moments, they sat there in calm silence, both of them contemplating the amber liquid.

"How ironic is it, that the thing that offers us the most comfort, is actually the thing that got us in this position in the first place?" Sirius questioned to no one in particular, a wistful sigh escaping his lips.

"Not really, when you consider the fact that we land ourselves in these situations. Alcohol just happens to be a very attractive, yet extremely dangerous catalyst." Anna answered him nonchalantly, bored by the constant enigma to her that the same irony applied to most things in life, from inanimate objects to our closest friends…

"And for the record, I still haven't gotten my appetite back yet." Growing increasingly frustrated, Anna turned her away sight from the bottle; lest she start paying more attention to the devil that took up a permanent residence on her shoulder. As of her early teenage years, the angel that previously resided on her other shoulder had abandoned her due to neglect.

"Ah, wonderful. I see that some of us enjoyed ourselves a bit more than others last night." As well as his powder blue shimmering silk robes, there was an extra twinkle of mirth in Albus Dumbledore's eyes when he commented on the state of Sirius and Anna. His very presence in the room seemed to have a jolting effect.

_'Or it could just be the breeze generated from him waving his silken covered arms around?' _It didn't really matter to Anna, but everyone else in the room instantly became more alert with his presence.

"Mr. Weasley, you're looking a tad green, if I do say so myself." Ron's face paled even more under Dumbledore's stern gaze. His mouth began moving, but no sound came out amongst the continuous stream of "ehhh". "Best to stay out of sight of Poppy. She doesn't take kindly to self inflicted wounds, yet her pride won't allow her to see any student go unwell." Dumbledore either hadn't payed attention to Ron's lack of words, or else had just decided to ignore it.

In the end it didn't really matter, because one scent of the sticky sweet lemon drops that the headmaster offered the boy, and he was out of sight faster than a pair of last summers Raybans.

"Was it something I said?" Dumbledore turned to them all with a face full of such innocence, that Anna would almost have believed him if she hadn't seen the glinting sparkle in his eyes. The old man simply smiled at her when laughter burst forth from her.

"Marvelous! I hadn't expected you to be awake yet Anna. I trust you are recovering well?" He continued smiling at her, his kindness concealing the concern he felt for her.

"Neither had I to be honest Dumbledore. I think my body's still in a state of shock, but don't worry. The recovery process usually gets under way at about noon." Anna stretched her legs out from under her and placed them on the table in front of her, closing her eyes and resting her head back as she did so.

"Anna, its two twenty three in the afternoon." Dumbledore informed her with a chuckle in his voice. A few seconds passed, and Anna didn't even bother to open her eyes when she adresses the whole room. "I'm going to need a very large margarita. With ice. And a large slice of lemon...And a straw. There's no chance that this place has a residents bar, no?" When her question was met with complete silence, Anna wearily opened her right eye to stare at them all.

"I'll take that as a no then." She huffed to herself while her eyes lingered on the whiskey once more, a new manic gleam claiming them.

"I trust your feeling your usual self Sirius?" Dumbledore broke the silence in the room, still standing at the head of the little table.

"Well, you know me Dumbledore. Can't keep a good dog down." A bout of chuckling erupted that Anna felt unable to pay attention to, due to the fact that Albus Dumbledore was smiling at her far too brightly.

"Anna, I was wondering if you would be so kind as to accompany me for a walk in the grounds?" Anna took a long, long pause while she stared at Dumbledore politely tilted face. Then she began to laugh.

"Oh, good one Dumbledore. Go for a walk…classic." She managed to force out behind her laughter, until her smile dropped as quickly as it came. "Oh God you're serious aren't you?" A forlorn look crossed over her face. The headmaster might as well have issued her execution date to her.

"Certainly. I often find that there is nothing that a bit of fresh air cannot cure." The old man made a gesture that seemed to suggest he wanted to leave now. Anna groaned to herself, wishing for nothing more than for one of his magical, blue twittering birds to fly in the window and wipe that smug look off his face.

Instead, she kept her composure and turned to Sirius. "Sorry Sirius, but desperate times call for desperate measures." Grabbing the bottle in between the two of them, she saluted the headmaster's back as he made his way toward the portrait hole. Before he could turn around, Anna hurriedly downed the remnants of last night's whiskey. Letting out a shuddering sigh of appreciation, she prepared her body for its coming ordeal, stretching out her limbs and cracking the necessary joints.

Forcing her body off the couch, Anna pulled herself together and took one last wistful glance out the window. If only she could Jump…

A flash of silver caught in the sunlight called her attention back to the table. Sitting directly opposite from Sirius was a delicately engraved hip flask…a hip flask that had gone unnoticed by her. Until now. Snatching it from the table, Anna daringly unscrewed the cap, and took a long inhalation. _'There really must be something magic about this place.'_ She sighed, when the scent of more whiskey wafted over her.

"Can I borrow this?" Anna pleaded with Sirius' laughing gaze, her grip continuously tightening around the precious metal flask.

"Anna, do you not think it is a bit early for that?" Dumbledore's disapproving voice called to her, his eyes forbidding as he watched her over his half-moon glasses. Smiling deviously, Anna waited a few seconds to deliver her reply.

"I often find that it is never to early Dumbledore. Especially when one is facing the prospect of several flights of stairs." Still smiling haughtily at the wizard, Anna secured the flask into one of her large pockets. A few moments of awkward silence passed over the room, while Anna continued to give the headmaster a dangerous smile, daring him to call her out on her antics.

A slow, deliberate smile crept across his face, crinkling his small, kind eyes. "Touché Anna. Very well played." The old man laughed at her, as she made her way over to him. He held the portrait hole open for her, and Anna gently nudged him with her elbow as she passed by him.

"Oh, I've a few things to teach you yet Dumbledore. But come on…I'm sure we can rustle up something tropical on the way outside. A detour to the kitchens maybe…pay a visit to a ticklish pear? If that's not somewhere to hide pina colada ingredients, then I don't know where is…"

* * *

**AN:**Not extremely important for now, but it would be a good idea to take note of Sirius' reaction to Anna, for future chapters.

Any questions, don't be afraid to ask...and review, please! X


	13. Burning Rubies And Emeralds

_If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old - Edgar Watson Howe_

For the fifth time in a row since departing from her new found sanctuary of soft leather couches (and Sirius Black's seemingly endless supply of spirits) Anna let out a very disgruntled and child-like 'huff'.

The sun's bright rays assaulted her eyes when they beamed in through the great oak doors of the Hogwarts Great Hall. Startling her, Anna fumbled desperately for the large pair of thick rimmed, black out designer sunglasses perched on her head.

_'Thank God I made my way back for these bad boys...' _Mentally sighing, her mind brought her back to what had happened when Dumbledore and her left on their journey through Hogwarts.

_They had been walking along yet another endless hallway, not five minutes after beginning their voyage. In a moment of self-pity, Anna gave herself a break from the chattering portraits crowding the walls, and zoned out of reality. The second she shut her mind off, she felt **it** again._

_That pull that had dragged her to this mental asylum in the first place, made a second appearence. It encompassed her entire purpose, and made her oblivious to every presence around her. It consumed her mind, pulling her away from idle thoughts and wonderings, calling for her to follow it. __In a trance like state, she meandered past Dumbledore down the long corridor, the unknown route she was following filled with a determined purpose, her footsteps leading her on mysterious path. _

_It was pulling her towards something wonderful and awe inspiring, towards a place where she knew not what was waiting for her, only that it would be extraordinary. She was on a quest, searching for the entity that was creating the tug. She was certain, that when she reached her destination, she would find answers...**the** answer that she had been searching for, for the past three years._

_In her oblivious state, she completely ignored the curious wizard beside her, who studied her with a new sparkle in his eyes, a desperate excitement filling him. __Had Anna been conscious to reality around her, she would have heard the damning statement that left his wise lips. "Not yet." _

_The moment the old wizard uttered the sentence, Anna felt the tug quickly diminish, and she was pulled back to reality by the gentle hand of the headmaster on her shoulder. Startled, like a deer caught in headlights, Anna turned to look at the wizard behind her. She felt as if she had just awoken from a dream._

_"Anna, you're going the wrong way." His gentle voice reminded her of where she was. She turned towards the end of the corridor with a confused, desperate, longing gaze, staring at the large stone gargoyle up ahead. She had been so sure that she would find it right there, but then it disappeared so quickly?_

_"The sunlight and fresh air that you're not aware of seeking, are this way." He smiled at her, and Anna reluctantly turned away and brushed the hair out of her eyes. With a startling wake up call, she noticed she was missing something vitally important when planning on facing sunlight during a hangover._

_"I forgot my bloody sunglasses." She whispered, huffing and retreating back down the path she had just followed. She noticed the headmaster watching her, his head tilted in polite curiosity.__"Well, I'm not going outside without them. Come on, it's not as if we've got somewhere important to be." In silence, both of them made their way back to the worse for wear group still perusing the wonderful couches in Sirius' rooms. _

_"Don't get excited, I'm leaving again in a second." She smiled at them, and marched her way through to her room. Fumbling around the bed, searching for the glasses she had left there, the thought of the tug never left her mind. What was it? It wasn't something that was familiar to her. On all her great travels across the globe, she'd remember something like that. _

_But it had the same similar feeling to something else she'd felt before. It was as if it had the same elements that made up the calming presence in Egypt. She'd never felt anything like the soothing place in Alexandria before, not until-_

_Gun powder grey eyes caught hers the moment she stepped out of her room, and she froze. Staring into Sirius Black's tempest eyes, she knew where she'd felt it before; when the sinfully gorgeous wizard had held her to him in the water, exactly when that shark was coming to end them. She should have been terrified. Frantic escape plans should have been flying through her mind. _

_B__ut when he grabbed her to him, she felt such a deep serenity that she thought she would melt, and be washed away with the ocean._

_Earlier, when she thought about it, she had just assumed it was because she had just felt a horrible and mind shattering pain fill her head...which was another problem that she had yet to figure out. _

_But then it happened again, when he held her hand in the hospital ward. When her whole chest was collapsing in on her, and the memory of what she had just done was tearing her apart...he grabbed her hands so tightly in his own, and he held her together._

_"Anna, are you alright?" Anna shook herself out of the daze frequenting her visit here too often, and took in the concerned gaze of those left in the room. _

_"What? Oh, yeah. Sorry, just got caught in a stare." With a bright smile, she rushed out the door to join the headmaster, before she could hear the smart remark the gorgeous wizard was about to unleash. _

_Wandering through the giant castle with Dumbledore, Anna began to question many things._

"Fuckin' sneaky wizards..." Anna grumbled to herself, referring to two wizards in particular. Stepping down the stone steps towards the grass, she skinned the back of her bare heal off the rough stone. Flip flops had been the only option for the warm weather, as Anna didn't believe in trainers. The humid air and warm sun were having an unwelcomed effect on her dehydrated skin, due to the fact that she was forced to forego using moisturiser after her shower; wisely choosing her fragile stomach over the sticky, sweet scent of coconut and mango body lotion.

After adding Dumbledore's latest escapade to the list, Anna was quickly becoming an un-happy camper.

"What was that Anna?" Said 'sneaky wizard' broke off midway through humming what sounded like The Beatles ' Drive My Car'.

"I said what a pity." Shouting as if addressing an ancient geriatric, Anna made it blatantly clear that she had not uttered that statement the first time. "You know, about you, the headmaster of the school, _forgetting_ the way to the kitchens." Dumbledore had led her deeper into the castle, taking shortcuts that brought them to dark and dank corridors. She was certain they were going to end up in some medieval dungeon, until they _conveniently_ emerged in the Great Hall. Not the kitchens.

"Ah yes. Do you know Anna, every time I believe I have the castle figured out; it finds new ways to trick me." The old man found this wonderfully funny, yet all Anna could do was grit her teeth, give a sickeningly sweet smile and mutter "Oh really" behind a fake laugh and a sunglasses shielded glare.

Her eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, Anna stopped squinting behind her shades and strolled through the grounds with Dumbledore. Closing her eyes, she breathed in a deep sigh and basked in the sun's warm glow, the quiet lapping of water against the lake's shore's, and the faint scent of her beloved oak trees.

With a start, she realised that her reaction to this shouldn't have been relief. Then she remembered the issue she had with going for a walk in the grounds in the first place.

_'Where's all the screaming and roaring kids I've been dreading?_' Anna abruptly opened her questioning eyes, frowing at the overly timid Hogwarts students in front of her. She was grateful to whatever instinct telling her this stillness wasn't inspired by her 'intimidating' presence.

'_They didn't have much of an issue with me yesterday?'_ She thought, immediately going on the offensive. Then she remembered the Paladin attack, and what she had done to her hated enemies...to one of them in particular. A very dead one.

Of course, they had every right to be terrified of her, who wouldn't be? Even by her standards she was a freak...what must she look like to them?

She raised her head once more to watch the students in front of her. For the most part, none of them were paying any attention to her. There was a quiet tension built around them, a rigid stillness that was disturbing on so many levels.

On first glance, all anyone would notice was the absence of roaring laughter and playful screaming, amongst the bored and vague chatter emitted by the students. Each and every one of them were lounging in close knit groups, utterly bored. Not even a sole, almost always guaranteed rebel was splashing out in the huge lake, diving underneath its calm surface or throwing cool droplets at his friends. The prime divilment location that was the lake only saw as much action as a bare foot creating quiet ripples across its surface.

_'Delighted with life.' _Would usually have been Anna's first thought. But then she took a closer look at the eerie quietness that flowed from the kids.

It wasn't a tired or vague hum they were emitting. It was a culmination of tense whispers darting in amongst the secluded and isolated groups littering the grounds. Each of them would sit still in the silence, until one almost scared out-spoken thought set them off again.

Weren't school kids meant to be wild and out of control, bursting with hormones and youthful giddiness? Especially in this sort of weather, where adults were all too exhausted to waste their energy chasing around after them, pointlessly scolding them for their mischief. Why weren't they taking advantage of the situation? Why were they all just...waiting?

"Is something the matter, Anna?" The old wizard's pointless question almost pulled her away from her thoughts. Without even looking at him, Anna knew that he was asking regretfully. His tone confirmed that he knew something was wrong...his bored wondering didn't even warrant her to answer his question. But she did so anyway.

"It-there's. Yes...I just don't know what it is?" Anna turned to him with a shock filled gaze, her bottle green eyes helplessly turning away from the lifeless teenagers in front of her.

The old man looked at her sadly, and for the first time Anna actually believed the fond term she had labelled him with. The brilliant wizard beside her looked _old_. Since she first laid eyes on him, she knew the man must be ancient; yet the youthful spark in his eyes alluded to something entirely different.

Now, looking out on his 'timid' students, the sparkle disappeared from Albus Dumbledore's wonderful blue eyes. A great sadness descended on him, and Anna watched as his mind's eye drifted away to another time.

"They are waiting." He muttered to her simply.

"Waiting for what, fuckin' judgement day?" Sarcasm had become such a second nature to Anna, that now it was the most effective tool she used to hide her emotions.

And right now, she was angry. Who, or what, could do something like this to a bunch of kids?

"For some of them, it might as well have been." Dumbledore remained silent, staring at his students with a deep regret. Eventually he took a deep breath, and began walking again with Anna following suit. He kept his eyes trained straight ahead while he spoke, neither looking at her or the students, just looking for..._something._

"There was an attack last night. Which, naturally, is dreadful enough as it is. However, it's growing even worse by the minute, for nobody knows where, when or who was involved." Dumbledore was striding along beside Anna, while she matched his pace and watched him with ever growing confusion.

"Well then how do you even know there was 'an attack'? I mean, an attack of _what_ exactly?" Anna figured that her line of questioning was highly logical. Judging by the Headmasters desperate gaze, Anna began to think not.

"A patronus was sent to Auror Headquarters last night in the Ministry." Seeing Anna's blank look, Dumbledore kindly elaborated.

"A patronus is a form of messenger. Each witch or wizards takes a specific form of animal, and delivers the message with their voice. Last night, at what is the equivalent of the wizarding world's police headquarters, a patronus in the form of a horse turned up. She left a cryptic message, not stating her name or location." Dumbledore's voice was perched on a sigh, the man trying to keep everything cool and calm on the exterior. Anna could feel the anxiety rolling off him in waves, frustration building up steadily behind his quiet demeanour.

"Who the message was for was obvious; Alastor Moody is generally known by the nickname 'Mad Eye'. The woman's voice was very shaky, and Alastor could pick up very little from it. She mentioned something about sending 'the pair' away, and that he had to 'protect them'." The tension in the man was palable, so much so that Anna almost found herself wanting to tug at her hair, and throw rocks through the heavy air.

All the while, the wise wizard beside her remained still...unnaturally still.

"With no name or location, Alastor has squad's scouring the country. Whatever happened to the witch, her wand cannot be traced...which is leading many to lose hope. Ministry occurances should be contained within Ministry Official circles, but unfortunately the news has spread like wildfire. Students are waiting on edge to hear back from parents, friends and family. Rumours are spreading, causing nothing but chaos and becoming even more of a distraction." Dumbledore finally released the harsh sigh building up inside of him, shaking his head and coming to stop in front of the crystal clear lake.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them mulling over the story from extremely different perspectives.

"What's a 'death eater'?" Anna finally questioned, moving to sit on a large smooth rock beside the headmaster.

"A follower of Voldemort; the darkest and most evil wizard our world has come to know in an age. Whether or not the attack was carried out on his orders, the panic and hysteria surrounding it are playing nicely into his plans. People do dangerous things when they are scared." Dumbledore wasn't looking at Anna anymore, his mind wandering too far off. Behind his calm outward demeanour, there was a restlessness to him, an unending agitation. The cheerful man she met this morning was gone.

"But why would they hurt this woman? Why wouldn't she just tell your 'police' friend where she was? Is that not what they're there for, to protect her?" As obvious as the situation seemed to be to the wizard beside her, Anna just could not wrap her head around it.

"The most likely theory I have surmised is that the attack must have been personal. She must have done something to irritate one of his followers. Such an act would be known amongst death eater circles, and therfore at the briefest mention of her plight, they would have swarmed in on her. The Ministry has been infiltrated by Voldemort's spies since his return, and no one knows who to trust anymore. In her desperation to protect the 'pair' that she mentioned, she gave Alastor and his team of Auror's very little information to help her.'

Silence surrounded them once again, and tension that was felt amongst the grounds began seeping into Anna. Dumbledore had told her yesterday that he had something to ask her, and at that time, she too could ask him her questions. As much as she wanted answers to her presumably innocent questions, Anna knew that now was not the time.

"Pointless as this is, but if there's anything you think I can help you with, please let me know before I leave." Anna really wished for a way to lift the worry from the kind old man beside her, before she had to leave. After she got some time to herself, she was going to sneak around this castle, find out what that strange_ pull_ is, and hightail it out of here the first chance she got. She had things to do, and a lot of people to see. Especially Paladin people.

"On the contrary there is a lot that you could do to help, Anna. Not at the present moment, nor in this current situation...but involving the much greater threat that is Voldemort. Anna you could be a great asset to fighting this war." With a lightning quick movement, the wizard turned to look at her, his eyes conveying a message that she found hard to grasp, and even harder to ignore.

_'Hold on a second, I was offering my search and rescue assistance, not pledge of allegiance to war!'_ Her mind was roaring at her to flee, while Anna was too busy being taken aback at the Headmasters statement. What the fuck could she offer an entire group of wizards who were fighting a war against what sounded like a magical Hitler?

"Dumbledore, I'm sorry, but I don't have time to sit around and configure battle tactics. Whatever way you think I might benefit you, trust me, I won't. I don't tend to play well with others, which was clearly demonstrated here yesterday with Scrimgeour and his little lap-dog." A wry smile took over her face as she recalled yesterday's events once again, the growing tension in the grounds filling her with a restless anxiety to get to the bottom of the new Paladin 'development'

Paying a wistful look to the silent students around them, Anna wondered how many of them would benefit from whatever 'help' she could give? She came to the quick conclusion that her prolonged presence here would lead to nothing but more danger and trouble for them. And it further strengthened her resolve to go.

"Believe me, the faster I get out of here, the better it is for all of you...especially them. The longer I stay here, the greater a chance there is of a repeat of yesterday's incident. Their too young to witness stuff like that." And from personal experience, Anna knew that it wouldn't do them any favours in the future.

Surprising her with his quick and determined, pursuasive tones, Dumbledore left Anna with another question on her lips, when she caught the winking glint in the old man's eyes."Anna what occurred yesterday was remarkably unusual. I can assure you, that unless they are welcome on these grounds, no one would be able to penetrate this castle whilst I am headmaster."

There was definitely something he wasn't telling her.

'_What does he mean, '_unless they are welcome on these grounds'?_ Does he have something to do with me being here? Could he know what that pull is, where it leads to?'_ These questions and more began filling Anna's mind once again, dominating her every thought. Every thread of ideas in her mind were leading her in different directions, different questions that needed to be answered, leads that had to be followed up. This place was taking up too much time, yet she couldn't leave...not just yet.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Anna trying to concentrate, unable to do so with the anxiety spilling from the wizard beside her. He barely moved, yet she could feel it attacking her from all sides, and it wouldn't allow her to sit still. Every time she tried to focus on one thought, ten others would dance along the fringes of her mind and distract her.

In her peripheral vision, she caught sight of Charlie Weasley running down the grass, his auburn hair catching brilliant golden tones in the sunlight. His expression was filled with purpose, and his mouth was set in a hard line. He was not bearing good news.

Dumbledore's attention immediately grasped, he made his way briskly to the young man. Anna followed and stood in front of a gasping Charlie. There was a manic glint in his eyes, something akin to excitment, but smothered in despair. A thin sheen of sweat had built up over his brow, and he was carrying two heavy cloaks in his hands. His gaze flicked to Anna for a moment, before focusing on Dumbledore.

"Moody's just got in contact. Him and his squad have found the location. He hadn't inspected it yet, he just found out enough to know that she and her husband are dead. He said to hurry, we won't have much time before the Ministry gets there." Charlie went deadly silent for a moment, his mouth opening and closing, swallowing a large gulp of air. His face was set again in a grimace, before he uttered a terrified whisper.

"Dumbledore...the woman who is believed to have sent the Patronus. Sh-she snapped her own wand." Anna noticed enough to know that this had a grave significance to the two wizards beside her. Charlie Weasley was searching Dumbledore's face, his large blue eyes growing more confused and terrified.

"And what of the **_order_** of things that remain in the school?" Being the perceptive creature that Anna was, she knew there was more to Dumbledore's question than met the ear...she just couldn't discern it. She was too busy watching how hard Charlie Weasley's blood was pumping through the pulse point on his sun-kissed neck.

"Sirius and the twins are still here. Lupin should be back soon, him and Sirius are going to make their way to us after Bill turns up. We can't get a hold of him just yet." Charlie's mouth turned to a grimace at the mention of his brothers unknown where abouts. Not enough to be worried about him, but still on edge.

Dumbledore nodded agreeingly, then turning to Anna.

"Anna, there is so much that we need to discuss, yet unfortunately time is against us yet again. I do not know when I will return, but I only ask, as a favour, that you would remain here until I get back." Unable to say no to the man under the dire current circumstances, Anna simply nodded her head and muttered "Of course."

"Also, before I depart, I should tell you; while searching the man who- met an unfortunate end here yesterday, a number of interesting things were found. Including a vial of blood around a chain on his neck, empty syringes and fresh needle marks on his arm. We have no idea if the blood is his own, or if that was what he injected himself with. I thought maybe you could shed some light on the development for me when I return?" He looked at her inquisitively, poised on his heel and ready to go.

"I- I have no idea what the fuck they are doing...but I know it sounds wrong." Anna began chewing her lip, a habit she formed as a child when she became anxious or stressed. She hadn't done it in years, but now unanswered questions were piling up on top of her, and she was drowning under them.

"No matter. We can discuss it when I return. Keep yourself...alert." Dumbledore turned his gaze to a point somewhere over her shoulder, where two men in purple robes were strutting amongst the grounds. Exchanging a knowing nod, both Dumbledore and Charlie set off towards the castle gates like there was no tomorrow.

When they were gone, Anna moved herself back to her rock beside the lake, crossing her legs underneath her in a meditative postion. Unfortunately, Anna never really was good at meditation; because right now, she needed to think.

**(**twenty minutes later**)**

With her legs folded comfortably beneath her, bare feet shielded from the rough stone and palms resting on her knees, Anna tried to relax.

She began with deep, calming breaths, attempting to expel all the tension from her. Allowing the sun's rays to wash over her naked arms, she sighed and finally, after what felt like an eternity, found the inner silence she was searching for. On these rare occasions, her brain didn't work well with distractions.

Calmness accomplished, she got down to business. _'Okay A, let's start from the beginning shall we? _

The first problem, of course, being that somehow those dirty, conniving little fuckers had found her yesterday in Miami. She had already berated herself, and would admit that (regretfully) it was indeed her own fault-she should have known better than to revisit her old Jump Spots.

The thing that annoyed her most was how in the name of God they managed to find her! There definitely wasn't another Jumper among them. She knew this because she would have sensed it. Jumpers have a strange ability to sense when they're near each other...similar to the way that ex-convicts can pick each other out in a crowd.

It's like a basic survival instinct, uncanny to canine methods of picking out the alpha male in a pack.

Deciding that however the Paladins had managed to follow her (through her own Jump Scar, around the globe, through a jungle, under the ocean and across a desert), was a problem that needed to be taken care of soon, Anna moved onto the next strange occurrence of her weekend.

_'How the fuck did I get pulled here...literally?'_ What was that tugging that pulled her from France to God-knows-where Britain?

Completely and utterly baffled, she took another deep breath and focused on emptying her mind once more, blocking out her thoughts and searching for the presence that she had first felt. After several seconds, she sighed and concluded that, for the moment, it was eluding her.

A typical feature of her life. When she wants something, it's almost impossible to do.

Yet when she's in a fit of rage and not even capable of thinking, its no big deal for her to send a half ton cement mixer fly across the room to bury a Paladin- with her mind. But that's not being specific or anything. Being specific would be mentioning how, now, when she wants to find this bloody tugging, she can't; but earlier, when she was minding her own business and trying to give her head some peace, it all but mind fuck's her.

_'Maybe a stroll thought the castle is in order...alone.' _

Once again doing what it did best, Anna's train of thought took up its cue and jumped from one carriage of her mind to the next, hopping onto an idea that left her feeling queasy and nervous. (And it wasn't last night's drink.)

_'What the fuck are the Paladins doing messing around with blood?'_ Unaware that a loud growl had ripped from her throat at the very thought of their name, Anna continued exploring the possibility that it had finally happened; the Paladins had indeed fallen completely off their rockers.

_'As if you'd be that lucky._' Her wisdom dashed her hopes, reminding her that these men, with poles stuck up their arses, were not likely to be found running around in strait jackets anytime soon. Although the thought was strangely comforting to her.

All manners of voodoo protection rituals did factor into the equation, of course. These were Paladins she was talking (thinking?) about, they genuinely believed that murdering all the 'unholy, god like powers of this world' was doing HIM a favour.

_'Yeah, and my liver is indebted to me for pumping it with poison every night of the week.'_

It never ceased to amaze her just how blind to their own cause they really were. Did they honestly think that their 'God' was grateful to them for murdering people in his name?

And now, using blood to make biological weapons (because that was the only half way plausible reason there could be) was going against the belief of God they followed. Biological weapons were more unnatural than she was, for Christ's sake!

_'The day Paladins start fucking around with biological weapons, will be a very black day.' _Anna had a nasty feeling that day had already come and gone...

Along with all the other 'black days' involving them, which apparently, if she was indeed going by the murdered Paladins thoughts, need not have happened. What was the point in her one-woman trail of blood and carnage, if he hadn't actually died? If **he** never really left her, were all those lives worth it?

Anna felt her throat tighten and dry up, thinking of one particular life that never even got a chance to begin.

_'Stop dwelling on it, it's not going to make any difference now. Just let it serve as a reminder, that they deserve everything they get._' Like the thousands of times before this, Anna banished it from her mind again, feeling her heart glaze over with ice and the vicious anger that tore across it.

_'How could he do this? Why would he do this? Why would he want to help them, and why in the name of God would they even let him? In their eyes, even associating with a Jumper is enough to be killed on sight. He can't be alive..._

_Why would he stay with them, and leave me? How could he not come back for me? _

_How could he leave me all alone...?' _

These thoughts were all washed away when Anna watched his face fly through her mind from someone else's thoughts. His handsome face was sickly, his once brilliant brown eyes dull, and his once glowing skin taut and sallow; so unlike the happy, healthy young man she spent her days with all those years ago...

But the sight of him in the Paladins mind was too accurate to be fake, too close to be a look alike or a piece of invented fiction. Even after aging almost four years, Anna would recognize those cheekbones anywhere, even at Dolce and Gobanna model convention. Especially the left one, with the tiny, altogether almost too significant indentation just below the crease of his eye.

_'Well, he should have known better than to flirt with her in front of me! He's fuckin' lucky I didn't leave that bloody glass shard in...'_ Unaware that she was laughing to herself, Anna thought back on how he used to play with her for her tendency to get just a little bit jealous. The fact that made it worse was that he only did it to watch her reaction.

She still remembered the open admiration on his face, when he told her _'You're eyes turn into flaming emeralds when you are angry with me...it's so beautiful, it's even worth the occasional black eye'. _She even remembered the light role of his 'r's with his heavy Mediterranean accent.

_'But oh did he get a reaction...'_ Three bloody hours pulling glass out of his flesh with a bent tweezers did not leave her in a good mood.

She had been so angry with him; she grabbed her drink, flipped the table over and stormed out of the bar. When he came rushing out after her on to the street, laughing and trying to wrap his arms around her, she totally flipped the lid; she hadn't really meant to hurt him when she threw the glass at the wall...beside his head. But she did.

_'It was worth it though, just to teach him a lesson._'

Thoughts of him always made her smile a wistful smile, notes of melancholy flitting through it. He had been her fist love, her only love really...And they robbed that from her too.

The soul sucking, life obliterating Paladins; they had taken him from her, just like they had taken everything else.

It was their fault she heard his cry in her dreams, watched that horrible night replay over and over again.

Everytime, just when she'd think it couldn't hurt anymore, just when she'd believe that the pain would tear her apart, the fire would blaze through her vision, and she'd scream as it surrounded him from all sides, trapping him. She'd start picturing his terrified face inside the building, convincing herself she could see it, before hearing her own all too real scream erupt from her lungs as she watched...watched her last remaining thread to life snap, burned to dust among the rubble and ash of the crumbling white stone building.

Her stomach clenched with a single thought.

_'What if he's not really dead_?'

All those pain filled faces that plagued her every waking moment, dozens of men and women whose blackened souls she washed from the earth. They were dead set on her extinction, for a concept they would never understand. She was hell bent on their death, because they got in the way of her blood filled path of fury. They dared to stand in her way and beg for mercy, when their cause and organisation had robbed her of the only person left in her world? If he was still alive, what purpose had their deaths served?

'_And if he did die, have their murders still served a purpose_?' She brushed her guilty thoughts away. Guilt was for weak people, who had time to wallow in the many injustices of this world...she was not one of them.

Revenge was all she had left, and when it was gone...it would be over.

When she avenged the murders of all those they had taken from her, then and _only_ then would she finally be able to sleep at night.

Anna sighed, pushing all thoughts of him to the back of her mind, willing her eyes not to tear up.

She hadn't cried in a very long time, and did not intend to do so now. It was with a regretful cheer that she reminded herself, until that glorious day finally came, it would be with copious amounts of vodka, rum, whiskey and any other gift God had seen fit to bless humanity with, that she would receive a good-and dreamless-night's sleep.

'At the moment, sleep doesn't sound like a bad idea...' Her deep thinking session over, Anna opened her eyes to the sun shining again. The temperature seemed to have risen slightly while she was exploring inside her mind. A languid and lazy atmosphere had settled over the still tense students, who were no longer whispering amongst themselves.

Pulling the whiskey-filled flask from her jeans pocket, Anna took a long, satisfying drink. Holding the shining flask in her lithe fingers, she began studying her tattoo's again; her strange, wonderful, inexplicable tattoos...one of the many things that still confused her about her favourite place in Alexandria. Forgetting about the tattoo incident..._'whatever the fuck happened there'... _Anna felt more at ease just thinking about her own soothing, calm filled mecca.

Losing herself to the wonderful days spent lounging there, forgetting that the outside world even existed, Anna once again became lost to the world...

Something was wrong, yet very right at the same time. The tension in her stomach had dissipated, and a new anxiety took its place. A keen excitement bubbling through her, focusing her energy on one moment, building up inside of her-any moment now.

There it was, the _pull,_ it was back! Her eyes shot open just in time-

**Bang! **A thundering, gunshot-like sound echoed through the air. By the time Anna found the source of the noise, she had almost missed it.

In a puff of brilliant, shining light, a gleaming silver sword appeared out of nowhere, the red rubies in its hilt throwing beautiful rainbows through the air as it caught the sun's rays. A dainty, fragile-something- appeared above it, drifting carelessly down through the sky as the sun's beams shone on it too, highlighting the red and golden tones of it.

Anna didn't believe in coincidence. Whatever that pull was, it left these two objects for her, and whatever they were would only lead her closer to the source.

At this very moment in time, all she knew was that she wanted them. Both of them, and she wanted them _now_. The fact that the sword had just broke the surface of the lake with a gentle splash didn't even factor into Anna's plan, and she leapt off of the rock with every intention of swimming to the centre of the lake to obtain her latest treasure.

The warm grass tickled her bare feet as she ran towards the lake's edge, her long hair whipping behind her as she took off at a sprint.

The water hit her with a comfortably cool splash as her foot made its first descent towards the lake's gravelly bed, bits of broken earth and sand rubbing against the skin between her toes. Without a backwards glance to the startled faces of the children around her, Anna began wading forcefully through the shallow surface, pushing herself onwards to deeper depths.

As soon as the water reached her waist level, a desperate gleam of bright light danced into Anna's vision, as the sword stole one last ray before descending underneath the soft lake surface.

The idea of it floating to the bottom of the great lake before she could find its destination spurred Anna onwards. Flipping the button and labouring out of her heavy, wet and obstructing jeans, Anna took one deep gulp of air before diving underneath the surface of soothing water.

It's clarity allowed for her penetrating gaze to watch the sword sink slowly down through the great expanse of water. Kicking her bare legs along the surface, Anna propelled herself through the cool water, her green eyes never glancing away from her target...she could almost feel the hard, cold rubies in the palm of her hands, inching ever closer to it.

Finally close enough to the centre to begin her descent, Anna lifted her head above the surface for a moment, bright sunlight dazzling her as she took a deep gulp of air. Diving back underneath the water, she was almost sure she heard a rumbling voice call her name in the distance...but they could wait.

Both legs kicked up like a mermaid's tail, and Anna began plummeting into the deep, clear pool.

In the far depths of the lake, she could see long, braided ropes of green weeds reaching up towards the surface like fingers, desperate to caress the sunlight. Her sword was far away from them though; they wouldn't catch it before she held it in her grasp. She wouldn't allow it.

Plummeting further down, Anna finally got close enough to reach out and touch the gleaming silver sword. Its impressive length awed her, as she stroked the sharp edges, careful not to drag her fingers along it. She deeply wanted to admire it for a while, hold it in her hands and slice it through the air...that being the main thing that she was running out of. It was time to return to the surface.

On the fringe of her vision, she caught sight of one of the weeds that had broken from its root in the lake bed. It was floating aimlessly among the still waters, searching for a purpose.

Increasingly aware of her constricting lungs, Anna hastily grabbed it and wrapped it around herself, tying the sword into it carefully at her waist before securing it with an intricate knot. Running out of time, she moved her gaze to the surface and she-

Spotted the strangest, most beautiful feather she had ever seen. Red and golden, floating on the lake surface...the suns light shining through it, casting red and golden shimmering paths of light under the still water. Taking in its beauty, Anna decided that it wasn't the sword she wanted anymore...it was the feather. Pushing her arms above her, the sword lay almost forgoteen to her, her hand subconciously grasping it's weight by her leg as an afterthought.

Suddenly, out of the darkest patch of the quiet lake, an enormous, slimy, weaving purple tentacle made its way towards her with the speed of an eel. Frozen to the spot with terror, Anna drifted still...and watched as the tentacle lunged for her.

* * *

"What the bloody hell does she think she's doing?" Sirius Black muttered in complete and utter disbelief.

Stepping out of the Great Hall, he was immediately greeted by blinding sunlight, the altogether too warm heat of a late British Summer, and Anna...slicing through the once calm lake surface like an Olympic athlete.

Her lithe body was dazzling, delicate yet so very powerful and deceptively strong. Her seemingly fragile form was cutting across the vast expanse of water with an impressive pace, her long flowing locks brushing along the surface and tangling around her toned shoulders. The black slip of material covering her torso clung to her back with the weight of the water. As she continued to propel forward, it stuck to her slim hips, covering her until reaching the top of her thin thighs, showing only the hint of the curve of her backside.

Sirius, Harry, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny and Ron joined the confused student population in watching Anna tumble downwards into the water, resurfacing a moment later with a great sweeping arc of her hair; showering droplets of water across the unsuspecting lake surface.

Shaking the ebony locks out of his eyesight, the motion knocked a bit of sense into him. _'Merlin, the girls half your age old man! Pull yourself together; you've got places to be.' _

Reminded of the fact that no matter how much he might want to linger and watch her model-like figure attack the lake surface, he didn't have time to waste. He needed to get her back inside, in the safe hands of his godson and his friends; away from the Ministry officials prowling the grounds and castle. The last thing Dumbledore needed was Anna starting a war inside Hogwarts.

"ANNA!" His gravelly bark sounded harsh to his own acute hearing, thundering across the grounds. Striding through the throng of students clamouring around the lake, attempting to catch a glimpse of the distant figure, Sirius finally made his way to the front and hopped lithely onto a large rock.

He had just focused on her mystical like figure again before she disappeared under the surface with a splash, her long, graceful legs shooting towards the sky and pushing her down further...down towards the creatures that lurked in the depths of the magical lake.

"Sirius, do you think she'd be smart enough to run if she met a grindylow?" Harry's anxious green eyes caught his from below. The uncertainty in the kids' faces spoke volumes, reflecting his own.

"Yeah, I'd say the girl who was jealous because she doesn't have a friend that's a giant, is going to run a mile when she meets a horned underwater creature..." Fred Weasley's optimistic voice wasn't convincing anyone, his folded arms and tapping foot hiding his concerned feelings.

Sirius hopped down and dragged his hands through his messy hair, grabbing onto Harry's shoulder to steady himself, and staring into the worried glances of his godson, Hermione and the four youngest Weasley children.

"Let's hope that the mermaids are in a good mood today." Shaking his hair, he kicked off his shoes and began making his way through the students crowding around the shallow shore of the lake. With the young group behind him, he turned to watch Fred and George Weasley stripping down.

"What are you two doing now?" Rolling his eyes, he regretted that he didn't have time for their antics.

"Well, someone's going to have to rescue her. I, however, intend on getting there first." In a Marauder worthy move, George Weasley shoved his brother to the ground and ran forward to dip a jean clad leg into the cool water.

Just as Fred Weasley got up to wrestle his twin to the ground, a piercing, heart racing scream rang through the air.

Simultaneously, Sirius felt the atmosphere thin behind him as crowds of Hogwarts students retreated hurriedly away from the shore, putting distance between themselves and the two giant, purple tentacles that broke the surface of the lake. Unfortunately, that wasn't the real problem.

The real problem was Anna, who was being thrown thirty foot into the air by those slimy, purple tentacles.

A sudden flash of gleaming light speared the sky, and Sirius caught sight of a long, sharp, dangerous looking sword dangling from a rope at Anna's waist, blood red rubies glinting from its hilt.

'_Women, sharp objects and an over friendly creature...'_

"Oh dear Merlin!" The frightening equation that just entered his mind forced Sirius to bound past Fred and George like the dog that he was, any thoughts of swimming a playful doggy paddle gone from his mind. Ministry officials and crowds of students prevented him from transforming into Padfoot, and it was driving him mad.

Keeping his keen gaze on Anna with her body flying through the air, slim legs kicking wildly beneath her and arms flailing madly, he watched in horror at the dazzling smile spread across her face.

_'What enjoyment can she find in being thrown through the air like a rag doll?'_

As a melodic, tinkling sound reached his acute hearing, he paused and stared in confusion as Anna's roaring laughter boomed across the lake to him and the young students behind him.

Three large purple tentacles were wavering in the air above the water, sending Anna skyrocketing up while she somersaulted, back flipped and did ballet like twirls against the clear skied back drop. The girl was having the bloody time of her life...

"Do you think that's safe?" "Do you really bloody care?"..."Nope." Fred and George Weasley watched in excited anticipation, staring as Anna's air borne body drew ever closer to the shore, the water gently rippling around his waist as the squid's tentacles swayed their way towards the warm grass.

Just as the purple tentacle made to grab her once again, Anna did a graceful twirl and dodged it, crouching her legs and bracing herself for her delicate landing on the squids wriggling tentacle. The second Anna's dainty feet made contact with the fish's limb, it froze and allowed her to catch her balance.

Like an exotic tight rope walker, the young woman began walking along the tentacle, speeding up to a run when the squid began gently bouncing its tentacle up and down, making her laugh even lighter and more carefree.

With the slip of her foot along the rolling tentacle, her legs fell from underneath her and she fell, freefalling down towards the water without a care in the world, soaring through the sky with a smile on her face. For the first time since she arrived, she looked so peaceful, and happy...and free.

Just as she was about to submerge, a great tentacle reached and grabbed her around the waist, throwing her back into the air and, if possible, making her laugh even harder, her stomach doubling over as she grabbed her sides.

It didn't even seem to affect her that all this was happening thirty feet off the ground.

In fact, she didn't even seem to be aware of anything that was happening around her; not the jeering shouts of the young male students or the gasps at her antics...she was encased in the freedom of another world, and she was ecstatic.

As the lake bed trembled, Sirius dropped his gaze to the waist deep water beneath him and noticed, with his keen canine vision, two of the squids tentacles come to a halt a few feet from him.

As another bout of laughter escaped her, Sirius turned his eyes up towards Anna; her body coming ever closer, until a purple tentacle began to slope downwards, transforming into a slide as Anna hurtled down it and fell off with a loud splash not too far from him.

Water flew at him, partially soaking him from his face down, while Anna re-emerged from underneath. Throwing her hair back of her face, she performed a huge, excited wave and made her way forward.

Stopping suddenly, her laughter turned quieter and departed from its manic tone. She turned her back to him in search of the wavering, timid and stoic tentacles behind her, her own limbs drifting aimlessly in the water.

"What's got you so shy all of a sudden?" She laughed, splashing water towards the two wriggling tentacles.

The squid made no attempt to move; and Anna turned and raised a mischievous brow to the students, her forest green eyes taking on a gleaming shine of joy.

"Come on, they're not going to bite you!" Anna roared again, splashing the squid with more water. An outrageous laugh burst from her again when it raised a tentacle timidly, and tapping against her stomach, forcing her forward towards the shore.

"Are you lot going to just stand there all day, or are you going to join in?" As soon as the words left her lips, an excited silence descended upon the students on the shore.

Seconds later, dozens of splashing feet broke the surface of the lake, as students began wading into the deeper waters, laughter erupting through the grounds as they made to join Anna and the squid in the lake.

After a few moments of standing amongst the students, splashing along with them and diving underneath, Anna halted her motions to catch her breath.

Finally, Sirius managed to catch her bottle green gaze through the crowds. A mesmerising smile broke across her face, and she turned away from him to give a gentle pat to one of the giant purple tentacles, before wading her way over to him.

Halfway towards him, and she stopped with a grin on her face, reaching out to grab the pair of floating jeans that were drifting passed her. She threw them over her shoulders, each leg coming down to rest on either side of her chest, flapping against her hips bones as she walked.

His keen eyes kept watch on her delicate form coming towards him, her swaying hips forcing the long sword to bump against her thigh as she continued to emerge from the water. She epitomised some ancient mystical being from a fairytale, her skin glittering in the sunlight and beautiful face smiling in the sun.

She leaned to her side, twisting her hair in a long rope and squeezing excess water from it into the lake. As the level of water dropped to her thigh, he caught sight of yet another tattoo flowing across her body.

This one using black ink; a design of intricate, thin, jungle like vines winding up her left thigh. Starting with a single thin vine from behind her knee, it grew thicker as they spread up her thigh, branching out to weave along the outer part of her leg. Detailed black rose like flowers interspersed amongst the thin vines, their tiny blooming patterns eye catching and begging to be admired.

He pulled his gaze from her lower limbs as the vines disappeared underneath the long top that reached down past the juncture where her hip met thigh. Skimming over the rest of her red ink artwork that he had yet to explore, he waited until she reached his side before turning them both towards the shore.

"You've certainly perked up since this morning." His cheeky grin evoked another giddy laugh from her when he gently nudged her in the ribs with his elbow.

"Well, yeah, a quiet dip in the water will do that for you." She hadn't taken her eyes off of him since reached him, both of them walking arm by arm. Throwing him a devious look, she reached behind her and pulled his flask out of the jeans pocket, taking a deep drink of the whiskey before handing it over to him.

"Of course, you don't look like you need this now either." She winked at him and made her way forward while he threw his head back and finished the remainder of the whiskey.

When the water finally fell to their ankles, Harry and the others moved forward, anxiously awaiting their return to the shore.

"Is that the sword of Godric Gryffindor?" His godson's curious green eyes were drawn immediately to Anna's toned thigh, for entirely different reasons than those of his Godfather.

"I'm not entirely sure whose it is, but it is _beautiful._" Anna's voice faded into a whisper when she pulled the long sword from her belt with a profound reverence. Its sharp edges had frayed the rope of weed that she had fashioned a belt out of, and it broke once and for all as the tip sliced through it.

Making her way to the almost deserted grass, Anna stood tall and held the sword in a steady grasp in front of her, she sliced the sword through the air in a lethal, lightning quick arc.

"Careful with that thing! It's an extremely valuable magical artefact. Better hand it over to us, before you hurt yourself girl." A dangerous flash shot through Anna's eyes when she heard the Ministry official's voice. She remained silent, her head tipped to the side and a feral smile breaking across her face, ice white teeth bared.

"What if I decided to hurt someone else with it, instead?" A dangerous, menacing look filled her eyes, and they turned hard as emeralds. She stalked slowly towards the idiot in the purple robes, a predatory smile darkening her face.

"Don't be stupid, just hand it over." The man's voice was shaking, watching her draw nearer with the deadly blade, each step bringing her closer to her prey.

Her lights footsteps left no disturbance on the dried grass blades beneath her, mischievous gaze focused tauntingly on the Ministry Officials pounding pulse and frantic eyes.

"Sirius! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Remus' voice broke through the mounting tension, his light footsteps reaching them while he gasped for breath.

Suddenly remembering that he was supposed to be somewhere important, he rounded on the kids. "Sorry, Remus. We got a bit caught up in with-well, never mind. Right you lot, let's go." There was no need for Sirius to whisper to the kids; the Ministry workers were far too preoccupied with Anna's proximity to be concerned with the whereabouts of the students...even if one of them was Harry Potter.

The group of them made their way up towards the Castle doors, Fred and George bringing up the rear and shaking water from their hair.

Remus hung behind, shooting Sirius a confused look when he turned to take in the sight of Anna, soaked to the skin, clad in a pair of boxer like briefs with the sword of Godric Gryffindor in her grasp, held four inches from the throat of a Ministry Official.

All Sirius could do was shrug his shoulders and grab the volatile woman's attention.

"I'll explain later. Anna, why don't you hand the sword over and come inside for a bit to dry off?" Smiling innocently and reaching for her elbow, Sirius narrowed his eyes and tried to convey to her that they needed to leave...Now.

Nodding her head perceptively, Anna relaxed and turned from him to stare at the ministry worker. Glaring at him, she turned on the spot and pulled her strong shoulders back, dragging the sword also, until she bent a tremendous amount of force into it and hurled it through the air. With a satisfied smirk, she watched the sword embed itself in one of the thick tree's that dotted along the lake's edge.

"If you can remove that without using magic, then I'll forget about that comment you made earlier. If not...well, I'll be back for that sword later. Then we'll see who gets hurt." With a defiant spark in her eyes, she turned away from the glaring Ministry official and walked back up to the castle, both elbows gripped by Sirius and Remus for fear of Ministry retaliation.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Remus turned from Sirius to Anna, searching for an explanation between both of their grinning faces.

"Never mind. I'll fill you in on it later, when I'm not flashing my arse to the world." Anna pulled her arms out of their grasp, attempting to tug her water heavy top down as far as it would go.

"Oh, sorry pet. Here." With a flick of his wand, Sirius cast a drying spell over her jeans and top, just like he had done to himself a few minutes ago. Sirius' attention was then drawn to his werewolf friend's anxious gaze.

"Sirius, Dumbledore's after getting in touch. The woman that was murdered last night is Antonin Dolohov's sister." Sirius was vaguely aware of Anna falling behind them, shoving her foot through her jeans whilst trying to keep up with both of their long strides.

Sirius stared at his friend, knowing that whenever a Death Eater was involved, there was always more to the story.

"She married a muggle man fifteen years ago and moved to live on a horse farm in a small country village. Apparently, she was trying to hide from him and the rest of her pureblood family." She probably would have managed it too, if Voldemort hadn't had spies everywhere.

Anna's huffing and scrambling behind them was growing louder and louder, and he spared a curious glance behind him to see her wrestling the jeans past her hips.

"You shrank them you bloody eejit!" Sirius forced himself to ignore Anna's adorable tantrum when Remus' eyes filled with despair.

"There's more. The 'pair' that the witch was telling Moody to protect, were her two twin daughters...their nine years old Sirius." Remus' voice trailed off, and Sirius could already tell with a sinking heart that they feared the worst for the fate of the young girls.

Pushed slightly to the right, he turnd to see Anna's trembling hand gripping Remus' shoulder. Her gaze was iced fire, and her presence took on a new determined purpose.

"Have they been found?" Gone was the joyful mirth that filled her voice earlier. She was back to the dangerous force he had met yesterday, hurtling dangerous muggles across the grounds with formidalbe strength. Her unwavering gaze locked into a challenge with Remus' hopeless eyes.

"No, but the chances are-"

"Have they found them?" Anna cut across him aggressively, not willing to hear the potential fate of the two girls that hadn't been located yet.

"No. We don't think they were in the house when it happened. Most likely their mother sent them out of the house, to where though I'm not sure. That's why Dumbledore wants as much help as he can to get there; we have to find them before the Ministry does. Otherwise..." Remus drifted off in silence, but Sirius knew all too well how that sentence would end.

_'Otherwise, they'll be left in the care of their pueblood maniac relatives. Theyd be better off dead...'_

"I can help." She halted the pair of them, turning from Remus to Sirius' with a beseaching willingness. After seconds of silence, her gaze turned hard when she looked into Remus' almost hopeless face, daring him to tell her that she couldn't help. Daring him to tell her that they had given up.

"Anna, with this case, time is of the essence, I know that you want to help but your presence there-"

"Remus! Shut up and listen to me. I really can help, I have...prior experience in dealing with run-away children. Please, just trust me-if you get me to those little girls' home, I can take you them. Please, let me help them." Her hands were gripping both of their shoulder's now, digging into them with an almost painful force.

_'Let me help them.'_ She said. Not help you, not help Dumbledore...

Remus remained silent for a few minutes, contemplating Anna before looking over at Sirius for his opinion.

His opinion was that no one in their right mind would be able to deny the pleading look on Anna's face right now...or ever.

"Well, no time to waste." Sirius strode forward toward the Great Hall oak doors, halting on the step and indicating for Anna to step through. She stopped and sent him a look of confusion.

"Tell me Anna, how do you feel about floo travel?" Hiding his smile at the shocked look on her face, he allowed Remus to lead the three of them to Dumbledore's Office; the only fireplace in the school that was connected to the Floo Network.

Anna was about to accompany the Order of the Phoenix on a witch hunt for two nine year old girls on the run from Death Eaters. What could go wrong?

* * *

**AN:** A long, long chapter! Just a little bit of info, 'divilment' is the word used in Ireland for 'mischief'. Calling someone a 'divil', is pretty much the same as calling someone a rascal.

So, please drop off a review guys, hope you liked it! Any questions, don't be afraid to ask! X


	14. Calling In A Favour

Hello all! This update and (hopefully) the other one that (may or may not) come next week, will be the last for a while. Sadly, June is fast approaching, and I am SCREWED for the leaving cert. So the books are about to get a serious beating between now an then. As well as that, pass, fail or annihilate my last test (Chemistry), I am going to Portugal at the end of June, three days after finishing.

Also, I'm considering having a sacrificial burning of every single pen, copy and book (except my beloved poetry book...gotta love 'em, Hopkins and all) that I ever used to get me through those tests. Basically, what I'm trying to say, is that I'm gonna be pretty busy for a while.

**Important A.N:** The conversation Anna is having with God and the horse is in her native language, which won't be revealed just yet. (I just noticed how weird that is when you read it)

And I know some of the order members I used are dead, or had died by the 7th year, or whatever. I changed it

* * *

_Its not about whether you get knocked down; its whether you get up - Vince Lombardi_

The quaint and cosy living room of the small Dorset cottage was a flurry of movement. Every loud sporadic "pop!" and green flame announced another arrival of a member of The Order of the Phoenix. The chatter and muttering amongst the several members gathered immediately silenced when Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody led Albus Dumbledore over to the tragic scene discovered by him and his team minutes earlier.

Lying on a worn sheepskin rug were Philip and Caterine Hunter.

Their cold lifeless bodies were drastically out of place, a chilling and disturbing contrast with the comforting warmth of the country cottage. Surrounding them on the rustic orange walls were dozens of photos; the stationary occupants gazing out at those in the room with bright, smiling faces, oblivious to the horror that had occured in front of them.

Albus Dumbledore sighed sadly, thinking about how the two youngest occupants of those photo's had been robbed of any reason to smile, for a very long time.

A fact that was upsetting as it was, only to be made worse by the fact that the other two ocupants would never have the chance to smile again. At least, not beyond the frozen moments captured on film.

Philip Hunter, with his large hand frozen and clamped around that of his wife's, would never again take a photo of the three most important things in his life. Caterine Hunter would never hold her daughters in her arms again, while the three of them held still and waited for the flash of the camera.

A stone's throw away from her other hand, the wand of Caterine Hunter lay in two pieces, it's silver unicorn hair spilling onto the scratched and dented, worn wooden floor.

"No more than twenty hours ago is what I'd guess, Albus. Almost two hours after her patronus found me back at the Ministry. Given the circumstances, I can't imagine it being a quick kill. See there, in her left hand; that's hawthorn splinters. The woman snapped her own wand." Alastor Moody's gruff voice held a suspicious edge to it, his eyes glaring at the broken wand on the floor beneath them.

"Given the circumstances?" Charlie Weasley tore his sorrow filled gaze from the bodies on the floor, his question breaking apart some tension for some of the members. At least this was a question they could answer.

"Apparently, it wasn't much of an inconvenience for Caterine _Dolohov_'s family, when she all but disappeared off the face of the earth after marrying a muggle by the name of Philip _Clarke._" Tonks spoke up from Mad Eye's other side, her voice hard but tinged with sympathy.

"Are you saying that this woman is- was, Antonin Dolohov's sister?" The incredulity of Charlie Weasley's voice was mimicked in the faces of the others who were trying to find a likeness between the angelic woman that beamed at the from the photographs on he walls, and the dark and twisted creature that constantly scowled at them from 'wanted' posters.

"Hard to believe it isn't it? Luckily enough for Caterine, her brother was already locked up behind bars when she escaped the family to marry Philip. Her father died years ago, when she and her brother were only children. Her mother is suffering from some form of dementia for the past decade or so...apparently she has herself convinced that her only daughter is long dead." Emmeline Vance spoke from across the room.

The woman was a valuable asset to the Order. Just as Mundungus Fletcher kept them up to speed on the comings and goings of of the wizarding underworld, Emmeline managed to keep the Order informed on any relevant or interesting information that was flowing through the gossip mills of the upper class wizarding society. However, Emmeline's information, though not as frequent, usually turned out to be far more accurate, if less useful, then Mundungus'.

"Ok, so Caterine and Philip disappear for a while, change their name and move to the back of beyond to train horses and raise their two daughters." Tonks began pacing slowly around the room, her eyes roving over every insignificant object in the house.

Moody was watching his protégé intently, his keen eyes focused on her, encouraging her to figure out as much as she could on her own. The room held their breaths, waiting for the clumsy but surprisingly intelligent young woman to get them started.

"They own their own horse stables, and judging by the appointments book on the counter by the...telephone- thing...they're by no means quiet. Booked up for days on end with lessons and excursions; countless numbers of muggles in contact with them everyday...which would explain the strictly muggle lifestyle. Non moving photo's on the walls, stationary furniture and appliances; plus the lights and that flashing box in the corner obviously means the house has...oh, what's that word Arthur?" Tonks began clicking her fingers, frustratingly trying to remember all the muggle terms.

"Electricity." Arthur stated proudly, like he had been waiting for the question since he first arrived.

"Yes, that's the one...which means that magic isn't used on a daily basis, because it would interrupt the muggle...things! So, the question is, after sixteen years of being cut off from the wizarding society, how and why did her scum of the earth brother find her?" Tonks went silent, her eyes furrowed and thoughtful. She turned to face Mad Eye, seeking her mentor's guidance for something she couldn't comprehend.

"I know the obvious answer is because she married a muggle, but it doesn't feel right? Their murder doesn't come with the usual message of bloody massacre the Death Eaters reserve for 'blood traitors'. I mean, why didn't they publicise it? Why was there no Dark Mark sent up? Where are the blatant signs of torture? Most likely, there was a lot of suffering involved in it, but...look at them." Calling everyone's attention to the still bodies on the floor, Tonks succeeded in getting her point across.

If not for their deathly pallor's and rigid stillness, Caterine and Philip looked as if they could be sleeping...

"What I'd like to know is why she felt it necessary to snap her own wand?" Hestia Jones voice held the same fear that the others silently felt...what could have possibly driven this witch to destroy her only chance of survival? To snap one's own wand was the equivalent of cutting off your own arm.

"As much as I'd like to know all this, I think we'd best remind ourselves that there are two babes lost in the woods out there. And without our help, they might not survive much longer." Mad Eye's voice became the one that they all latched onto, to pull themselves out of their despairing stupor.

"Which is why it is imperative that we start working immediately. Arthur, I trust you have gotten in touch with all those necessary?" Dumbledore's voice instantly quieted the hushed chatter of the room. Everyone stood eagerly awaiting him to instruct them.

"Yes, I was just talking to Remus before you arrived. Bill had just dropped off at Hogwarts, and Remus was going to get Sirius before making their way here...I don't know what's keeping them?" A flicker of concern passed through Dumbledore's bright blue eyes, and just as quickly disappeared again.

"I'm sure they will be here soon. First of all, Emmeline, I need you to get in contact with Amelia Bones. As head of Magical Law Enforcement, she may be able to keep the situation under wraps until we find the girls, and get them to safety." With a swift nod and the swish of her robes, Emmeline departed with a loud pop.

"Alastor, while you and your team continue the search for the girls, know that we are all at your disposal should you require any assistance." Mad Eye grunted and turned to walk towards the four Auror's standing at the back of the room, followed by Tonks. Although none of them were 'official' members, they were hand-picked by Mad Eye himself as part of his team, and always went out of their way to cover the order when things went south. They could be trusted.

"The rest of us need to get moving through the house. Search for phonebooks, letters, photo's that contain a recurring face, possibly a close family friend or relative of Philip Hunter or Philip _Clarke_." Dumbledore moved towards the rest of the Order members. Hestia Jones, Dedalus Diggle and Sturgis Podmore broke away to begin searching the drawers of the large, pine cabinet in the corner of the room.

"What in Merlin's name is that?" Moments later, the open diary in Hestia Jones' hands was forgotten and dropped to the floor, when her shocked gaze fell on the soot covered form stumbling out of the tiny, metal grate and into the living room of the late Mr and Mrs Hunter.

"That was disgusting." Anna somehow managed to splutter out between the fluent string of curses she was coughing out.

Turning around to stare at the green flames erupting behind her, Anna squeezed her eyes shut in preparation for a sneeze that forced her to cover her face with soot covered hands. When Remus Lupin followed Sirius Black out from the grate, Anna abruptly stopped smudging the black dust into her pores, and glared at the pair of wizards in front of her.

"How the fuck did you escape the fireplace _spotless_, but I look like I had to wrestle my way out of a bit of rough and tumble in a mine shaft?" Anna's forest green eyes glared vividly at the two grown men, her fiery eyes blazing from behind the mask of black war paint on her face.

"I take it that the Floo system is not your favourite means of travel Anna?" Dumbledore stared at Anna, excited to hear the argument she used to twist the arm of Remus Lupin, and get him to bring her. Some how, Dumbledore had the feeling that Sirius arm would require less of a twist, and more of a gentle poke.

A sly smile spread across her face when she turned to stare at Dumbledore.

"It _narrowly_ beats a four day trek across the desert; by camel." Still dusting soot off her shoulders, Anna ignored the curious looks she was receiving, in favour of staring at the photos on the walls around her. Her smile instantly disappeared.

After scanning them for several minutes, she placed both hands on either side of a home-made, wooden framed photo, and lifted it down from the mantel piece. Staring at it for a few minutes, she opened the back of it and removed the picture of two young girls. Both with identical sky blue twinkling eyes and ethereal, wispy blonde hair; the twin daughters of the former Caterine Dolohov smiled out at her with mischievous grins.

Between the girls, held on either side by two different, pale and delicate hands, was a vibrant blue rosette style ribbon, three silken streamers flowing below it.

"Fourteenth of July '97." Anna read the printed red date off the back of what was presumably the most recent photo of the two girls.

Snapping her head up once more, Anna's face was full of determination and purpose. She strode over to Dumbledore with a swift pace, but upon drawing nearer to the wizard, her body was taken over by tension. It seemed that Anna could sense the chilled, lingering presence that Death had left in the warm, Summer air.

With careful steps, her gaze dropped to the floor as she waited to encounter the heartbreaking image that awaited her, hidden behind the circular pine dinner table.

Her face remained passive, not a teary eye or quivering lip in sight. Instead, she became hard and raw.

"What do you know so far?" Her low voice held a deadly authority in it, shocking many in the room.

"We know that sometime last night, Caterine and Philip Hunter were murdered by Death Eaters. We know that they're children were not here when it happened, which leaves us to assume that they are waiting somewhere for our help. We know that Caterine Hunter's dying wish, and most likely that of her husbands, was for us to protect those most precious to her. We intend to do so." Listening to the gentle tone of Dumbledore's voice, Anna's intense gaze sucked the noise out of the room, so that even Mad Eye's usual grunting was silenced.

"Good. Where have we not searched yet?" With a last look at the husband and wife beside her, Anna gripped the photo in her hand tighter and made her way around Dumbledore to march through the large arc in the wall that led into the family kitchen.

The team of six Auror's were gathered around the freestanding island in the middle of the white tiled floor.

"What's this talk about 'we' missy?" Alastor Moody's harsh eyes bored into Anna's, but she met his gaze dead on, startled only for a moment by the large magical eye he had trained on her.

"This 'talk' means that I'm here to help, whether you like it or not. So unless you want to waste more time that those girls don't have, I suggest you direct that scowl towards something, or someone else." Anna dismissed the fuming Auror beside her, ignored the shocked faces around her, and decided to pay attention to the smirking woman across the table with the bright pink hair.

"I have to say Anna; I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you'd be nursing a sore head in some dark and quiet corner of Hogwarts."

"I'm afraid there's no rest for the wicked Tonks." Never finding it hard to conjure up a convincing grin or smirk, Anna returned Tonks wink.

"Dumbledore, you can't be serious. I'm on a mission to find two young girls; I don't have time to babysit a third one...and a muggle at that. A crowd of Death Eaters could burst in any minute, not to mention the fact that we can only hold the rest of the Ministry off for so long." Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus had made their way over to help prevent the brewing storm take hold between Anna and Mad Eye.

"Alastor, I assure you that Anna is capable of taking care of herself, should things get out of hand. Anna, at the first sign of Ministry involvement, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave. I fear there would be no good outcome, should Rufus learn of your presence outside of Hogwarts." Seemingly satisfied that the matter had been settled, Dumbledore turned away from Mad Eye.

With no care in the world for the idiot Minister, Anna kept her mouth shut about the fact that she had no intention of returning anywhere without those two girls.

"Now, Sirius, would you mind calling for Kreacher? I believe that we could use the services of Mundungus Fletcher." Barely containing his growl, Sirius walked back towards the fireplace, grabbed some Floo powder from inside his robes, and stuck his head through the grate.

"Strange..."Anna muttered under her breath, before turning to Mad Eye.

"Whatever problem you have, drop it, we have work to do. What do you know about the girls?" Anna surprisingly kept her short temper well controlled, and under her strong green eyed gaze, Mad Eye finally seemed to acquiesce to her request.

"Their nine years old, were sent 'away' by their mother last night. Pale blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, not much shorter than-"

"Stop. What do you know about _them,_ the girls?" Anna's interruption of the Auror was not received well.

"What do you mean, what do we know about them? We know that they're both out hiding somewhere, and I know that you're wasting my time." He banged his fist on the table, and the marble island shuddered.

"Ok, I'll break it down for you. Have you gone to the neighbours yet?" Anna's patience was wearing thin, growing more obvious by the sound her foot was making, as she tapped the sole of her flip flop off the ground.

"There is none. We're in the middle of nowhere, miles from any town or village." One of the men around the table pointed to their own location on a map.

It took all Anna's will power not to snap or roar at the man across the table, while her hand quivered by her side, desperate the pinch the bridge of her nose. Instead she took a deep breath and looked up at them all.

"People will run for days when they have something to run from, especially children. No matter what sort of horror is chasing them, the first place they'll run to is wherever they feel safest, like a family friend or an aunt's house. Someone needs to start rooting through the address book. Find the closest houses to this one written in, within reasonable distance, and start checking in on them." Not waiting to see if any of them moved, Anna looked down at the map in front of her, glaring at its useless blankness.

They didn't know enough about the girls to guess how they would react.

Sighing in frustration, she pushed herself back from the table and looked at the photo once more. An idea started forming in the back of her mind when she stared at the blue ribbon again.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Anna muttered under her breath, leaving the table of Auror's who began discussing tactics again.

Lifting her eyes from the photo, she hurried out of the kitchen and back into the cosy living room. With her back turned, Anna didn't notice Sirius pull back out from the fireplace as he turned to Remus, Charlie, Arthur and Dumbledore. "Where's she rushing off to?" Anna barely heard Sirius question over the sound of her rushing footsteps as she flew up the stairs.

In the largest bedroom, at the end of the hall, were two twin beds placed on opposite sides of the room.

Sunlight beamed in through the large window, the great yellow orb in sky illuminating the entire room as it began its descent. It lit up the pale yellow colour of the bedroom walls, barely visible beneath the posters of the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys...and horses.

Dozens of posters littered the walls of every kind of horse imaginable. From a black Arabian show horse jumping a high fence, to a palomino leaping through green fields.

Numerous shelves were nailed to the walls, each of them holding at least five gold and silver trophies, tons of rosette ribbons of every colour stuck to these shelves, their streaming ribbons flowing beneath.

And making its way across the bedroom, from one bedpost to another, was a border of photos.

Starting from the bed on the left side of the room, this photo was of the twins when they could have been no more than four years old. Standing in front of a white stone wall, on either side of them were two wooden gates, one painted fire red, the other a deep purple. They were holding hands, wearing identical pink leggings, polka dot jumpers and mischievous smiles.

The next photo in the sequence was much the same, except that now the girls had grown a bit, both wearing bright denim skirts and sparkly pink shoes, they stuck their tongues out at the camera. The red stall door to the left remained open, a trail of hay following the twin that stood beside it.

The series of photos went on, each photo containing the little twins, their growing height measured by the vividly painted gates on either side of them. There were twelve of them all together, and it was on the final one that Anna started to focus on the photo's features.

Two blonde haired twins, almost fey like in their appearance, stood once more in front of the white washed wall. Wearing riding boots and jodhpurs, black helmets were held in place under their arms. From behind the red and purple stall doors, two horses reached their long faces out, leaning into the pale hands that were held at their cheeks.

Looking between them, Anna watched the entwined hands of the girls, their smiling faces filling the room with a light that the sun's rays could never compare to.

"Gotcha." Anna whispered. She pulled the photo off the wall and held it in her grasp, a few inches from her face. Staring at the white washed wall, she committed every crack and dent to her memory.

With a broad smile spreading across her face, Anna disappeared into the fabric of space. She left nothing behind save a shimmering gateway of air, a falling photograph, and the unanswered call from a husky voiced male.

* * *

When she hit the hard concrete pavement, Anna was still smiling.

Wriggling her toes, she was glad to feel every lump and groove in the uneven floor beneath her. The thin leather sole of her sandals may as well have been tissue paper, for all the support and protection they offered. Not that Anna was complaining...she hated wearing shoes.

Unfortunately, it wasn't socially acceptable (or remotely hygienic) to walk around in one's bare feet. So, she decided that if she was going to do something she hated doing; she was going to do it better than everybody else. Hence the reason why shoes were a great source of inner conflict for Anna. She'd much rather walk around bare foot, and feel the soft grass and warm sand beneath her. However, once you made a habit of admiring the Jimmy Choo's you put on, it's hard to imagine ever taking them off.

After scraping the tip of her big toe off a jagged stone, she quickly became disenchanted with her choice of footwear, and pulled herself back to reality. More out of habit than anything else, she turned on the spot, and scanned the surrounding area for any shadows that didn't belong.

She found the descending sun bathing the Hunters' lands in a warm orange glow. The sunlight washed over the rich grass, touching the tip of every green blade, until its rays were blocked by the tall pine trees that shot suddenly into the sky.

The Hunters' stables were sitting directly across from a large pine tree forest, seperated by the wooden horse fence, and fifteen feet of grass. From where Anna stood, she could see a well trod dirt path, marking a frequently used trek from the closed door of the stables towards the edge of the forest, and continuing on beyond the reach of the suns light. Like the entrance into a secret woodland garden, a space had been cleared in the forest four trees wide, so that two large horses could trot comfortably along, side by side. A winding path made its way past the overgrown forest floor until it reached a bend, and disappeared from view behind the large trees and undergrowth. It would be the perfect start to an adventure...

'_But not today's adventure.'_ Anna stopped herself from taking any more unconscious steps towards the tall trees. There would be time to explore the unknown later. Right now, she had more important things to follow through than her thirst for adventure.

Leaning her elbows ontop of the wooden fence, Anna allowed her longing gaze to travel up the length of the tall trees, and silently admired their needle like tips. Against the fiery backdrop of the setting sun, she almost expected them to catch fire from the orange and pink hues that shot through the darkening blue sky.

In a slight state of panic, Anna realised that dusk was quickly approaching. In less than one hour, darkness would descend. Knowing how it felt to be scared and alone when your only nine years old, Anna began to worry. She remembered only too well how much worse everything seemed in the dark.

She struggled to keep the memories and feelings of her own past at bay, but with the drastic similarities of the situation, she was finding it extremely hard to keep her voice steady, when she sought out the heavens.

'_Please, if you help me find them, I promise that I will do everything in my power, to make sure they don't end up like me.' _Anna felt no guilt or embarrassment on calling on God for help. She was a firm believer in the phrase 'desperate time's call for desperate measures'.

It also may have had something to do with the fact that, in her eyes, God owed her...big style.

She would never dream of calling on Him to help her with her own problems. Not since He abandoned her to deal with her problems alone twelve years ago, on the one night of her life when she had needed Him the most...

After making it through the horrors and vicious trials of the hardest and most devastating night of her life, alone, Anna no longer wanted, nor did she desire any help from God. She was brutally alone in this world, and had accepted the fact...she revelled in it, and found a great freedom in not relying on God (or anyone) for help.

At least not for herself...

When it came to the two young orphaned girls, she knew the many paths that would lie down before them when they learned of their parents deaths.

Almost twelve years ago, the same paths had been laid down for her. She knew that if someone had been around to take care of her, she probably wouldn't be still battling down the vicious and blood stricken path of vengeance. It was a never ending search, fuelled by grief, anger and most of all disappointment. It was the path that she was determined to steer the two girls away from, at all costs. She would make sure they did not make her mistakes...

Five minutes had passed, and Anna still stood in the exact same place, glaring expectantly up at the sky with a raised brow. Tapping her foot, she waited impatiently for God to get a move on.

Jerked from her irritation by a loud disgruntled snort, she abruptly turned her gaze back towards the stables. Locating the source of the sound, a beam settled across Anna's face, and she wasted no time in directing it back towards the heavens, along with a smug '_Thank you.' _

Unlike most people who asked God for help (in situations that are entirlely solvable with a bit of their own effort), Anna tended to _wait around_ for a few minutes after. Most people are too busy worrying about the problem at hand, that they don't even notice when their prayers are answered! Anna, of course, was not most people, and would have quite happily waited in the same spot through rain, hail and snow, until she got an answer.

Slowly, and cautiously, she made her way over to the Hunters' barn-like stables. Holding her hands up in front of her, she took slow, deliberate steps, coming to a halt under the gaze of a highly suspicious black horse. From its place behind the painted red gate, the horses warning gaze held her in place.

Warily considering Anna's presence, the heavy bulk of the ebony Irish Hunter filled the frame of Anna's sole view of the stable's interior. With its neck held high in the air, and calculating eyes set on her, Anna had the feeling that the horse was attempting to intimidate her.

The black mare grew more agitated when she drew closer to it.

_"Settle, my friend." _Gently she reached forward to pat the beautiful mare on the snout, and smiled when the horse was instantly soothed as her words washed over it.

_"Do not be afraid, I have come to help."_ Stamping its hoof on the floor, like the judge bangs his gavel, the black mare deemed that Anna was not a threat. It held steady, and leaned in towards Anna's outstretched hand, nuzzling its snout into her palm.

Anna leaned forward, resting her forehead against the horses face, and gently scratched the mare behind her pointed ears, allowing her scent to wash over the powerful animal.

"_Where are the girls?" _Anna's question was answered with a rush of warm air against her chest; the black mare snorting her reply. The stables guardian moved back inside, away from the gate, and began chewing on the hay scattered across the barn floor.

Gracefully hopping over the high gate, Anna gave the horse a reassuring pat on the neck, and hopped another small gate, to land in the main stables. Quickly surveying the surrounding area, she did her best to make as much noise as possible whilst moving around, announcing her presence to whoever was hiding in there.

She counted the sixteen full horse pens that wound around the sides of the stables, all of their occupants seemingly already bored of her presence as they moved back to their hay. An upper level acted as a roof over the horse's individual pens, a walkway running around the entire circumference of the barn. From what she could see, it was storage area for equipment and hay. Long strings of the yellow dried grass hung over the sides, falling down onto the main stable floor and silencing most of Anna's footsteps.

Among the soft rustling of her feet over the stable surface, she could hear hushed whispering above her. The tightness of her stomach loosened, her heart beating in relief that it was her ears the anxious whispering had fallen on, instead of someone else's.

At the far side of the stable, a shiny metal ladder was cemented into the concrete floor, providing a sturdy means to reach the upper level of the barn. She quickly made her way over and climbed up the ladder, wanting to put an end to any fear her presence probably inspired in the girls. Putting on her most gentle smile just before she reached the top of the ladder, she slowly walked along the wide ledge of wooden planks that provided the second floor.

Anna could hear the rustling the two young girls were making against the hay strewn floor. Without seeing them, she knew that they were behind the fourth a bale of hay from the left. _'Smart girls.'_ She thought, taking in their choice of hiding place. From their position of halfway along the wide wooden walk way, they had a perfect view of the floor below them.

"Hello? Girls, are you up here?" Anna called out loudly, giving them the option to control the situation. She wanted them to think of her as the person who looked for them, not as the person who found them cowering behind a pile of hay.

She halted in her place and waited, casting her eyes left and right, taking note of every entrance and escape route. On the other side of the upper level, a few feet from the girls hiding place was a window. There was no glass or sheet covering it, just an empty window frame.

"W-who are you?" A shaky voice of questioning was her answer. Taking it as a good sign, Anna took another step forward answered. "My name is Anna."

"Did our mother send you?" A shakier, higher pitched voice called out this time.

"Your mother sent a friend of mine a message last night, asking them to take care of you. I offered to help." Anna continued walking towards them. She could see two little blonde heads peeking over the tip of the bale, and fought with herself to keep her gentle smile intact.

The sight of the two trembling children, terrified out of their wits, shook her to the core.

"Is it ok if I sit down here?" After making her way around to where the girls were, she stood by the edge of the walkway, leaving a wide space between them and her. They were identical to the photo she had seen them in, with fey like pale skin, long wispy blonde hair and big, bright eyes.

Both sets of shining blue eyes stared at her with a timid suspicion.

"How did our mother send a message?" The twin on the right, with the less shaky, deeper voice asked Anna.

"She sent a horse." At the blank look on the girls' faces, Anna attempted to elaborate. "Not an actual horse, just one of those...oh, what are they called?"

"A patronus?" Coming to Anna's rescue, less suspicious girl answered.

"Yes, I think that was what he said. I'm sorry; I don't really know much about magic." Still smiling kindly at them, she sat down in a meditative position and put her hands on her knees, carefull not to make any sudden movements.

"Are you a squib?" Not having the faintest idea what a squib was, Anna filed it away to ask Dumbledore about it later. The sympathetic edge to the girl's voice made her curious about it.

"No, I'm like your dad. Well not entirely like him. I have my own sort of...magic, you could say." Anna's stomach clenched when she brought up their father. That wasn't a conversation she wanted to have right now.

"How do you know about magic then, if you're a muggle?" Smiling at the girl's unwillingness to accept anything immediately, she ignored the use of the word 'muggle'. It didn't sound like an insult coming from her.

"My friend is a wizard. He's the headmaster of a school. Have you ever heard of Hogwarts?" Taking in the shine that filled the girls eyes, Anna couldn't help but be caught up in their amazement.

"You know Albus Dumbledore?" Without realising it, both twins were leaning closer to Anna now. Apparently, she wasn't a huge threat to them anymore now that she was friends with Dumbledore.

Well, rather an aquaintance. Anna didn't really have many friends.

"Yes. He's up at your house right now, along with some people from the Ministry of Magic. Everyone's very worried about you two." Anna moved slightly closer to them, away from the edge of the walkway.

"How come you're not with them?" The suspicion was gone from the voices of the two girls now, and instead was replaced by curiosity. It was amazing what wonders could come from being associated with someone like Dumbledore.

Keeping silent for a few moments, Anna decided that it was best to tell them the truth (or some form of it).

"When I was about the same age as you, I had to run and hide somewhere too, because I was...different. So I went to my favourite place." She wasn't lying to the girls...she was just omitting information. She would have liked to have gone to her favourite place, but it was being raided...and burned to the ground.

"Where I hid wasn't anywhere near as cool as here. I saw some of your horse riding trophies and medals in your house. You two must be really good." At the mention of the word 'horse' both girls' faces lit up.

_'Thank you Jesus.' _Now, all she had to do was keep them talking about that for a while, until they trusted her enough to go with her. The conversation about her parents needed to wait until they were in safe surroundings.

"Do you have your own horses?" Both girls shuffled over to sit beside Anna, who turned around to face the stables with them.

"You see the chestnut mare, with the white stripe on her face? That's my one. Her names Ginger. And the grey one in the pen beside her, that's Baloo. That's Fina's one." The little nymph on Anna's left was directing her gaze towards two relatively small horses, no more than fifteen hands high.

"Fina, that's a pretty name." Anna turned to the twin on her right, who was smiling shyly at her.

"It's short for Agrafina. But _everybody_ call's me Fina." Anna laughed when Agrafina rolled her eyes.

"And what does _everybody_ call you?" She was still laughing, turning to the other twin.

"Thea. It's short for Amathea."

Anna was still smiling at the girls, when the sudden sounds of snorting and restless pacing caught her attention. Discovering the source to be none other than the black Irish Hunter, she stared at the stable guardian, and tried to figure out what was wrong.

She almost missed it- the shadow that didn't belong.

Staring out the only open entrance into the stables, she saw the distorted shadow of a human form fall across the grass. They must have been a fair size, for their shadow to reach so far.

Gripping the two girls by the arms, Anna began pulling them back away from the ledge of the walkway. Just as their backs hit the wall behind them, the huge figure of a man jumped over the gate. "Anna, their coming for us." Agrafina's hand gripped Anna's shoulder tightly, her voice shaking just as much as her hand.

Anna turned to stare at the girl, her petrified blue eyes brimming with tears.

"Who Fina? Who's coming for you?" Anna kept her voice low, pushing the girls behind her outstretched arms.

"The bad people that mummy told us about. Last night, when we were feeding the horses, she sent her patronus to us. She told us to hide, and not come back to the house. She said there were bad people there, and that we had to hide from them until she could send someone to come for us." The terror in the young girl's voice was making it almost impossible for her to keep her voice down.

"Oh girlies...I know you're in here. There's no reason to hide. We're going to have some fun." A sneering voice rumbled through the stables. The hairs on the back of Anna's neck rose at the greasy tone of the voice, and the message it implied.

Down below, strolling through the stables with a wicked smirk on his face was the largest man Anna had ever seen. (Excepting Hagrid, but he was half-giant; so he didn't count.)

The hay on the floor did nothing to soften his heavy footsteps, and she could still hear the excited panting of his breath above the horses anxious pacing. Anna's stomach already felt sick, after hearing the man talk about 'fun'. She could only imagine what the beast below was thinking of doing. If it was possible, the sight of him made her even more nauseous.

Shaggy, matted grey hair grew from almost every inch on his body. Behind his chapped and what was bound to be disease ridden mouth, were pointed brown teeth. The sores on the side of his lips were cracking from the smile on his face, and she wasn't sure if she had just imagined the puss leaking from them, or if he really was that disgusting.

Dangerous as the man looked; it was his squinted black eyes that frightened Anna the most. There was a manic, excited gleam in them. Their black emptiness startled her, and scared her at the same time. Whether or not he was the one who murdered Fina and Thea's parents, Anna knew that this man definitely should not be allowed to roam free.

At least not without some form of muzzle.

"Girls, how far away is your house from here?" Anna half turned her back to the man, who couldn't see them from where he lurked below. Her voice was a harsh whisper, and pulled both girls to a startled attention.

"Not far, over the hill behind the stables. About five minutes." Their grip on her hands tightenend.

"Is there a way out from up here?"

"Y-yes. There's a ladder outside that window there." Amathea pointed over to the open window frame Anna had noticed earlier. An idea was slowly forming in her head. She felt slightly guilty at the possibility that she might get some satisfaction from it.

"Ok. When I tell you to, the both of you are going to go over to that window, _as quiet as mice_, and climb down. When you get down, I want you to start running, as fast as you can, to your house. When you get there, ask for Dumbledore. Tell him that Anna said to come quickly, and lead him back here." Both girls were trembling uncontrollably. They were white as sheets, and Anna only hoped that the adrenalin rush would last long enough for them to make it.

At the sound of sniffing, Anna turned to stare at the man below her in confusion. A loud sigh escaped from him, and he closed his eyes. They dazed smile on his face made him look as if he were high.

"Don't be so scared girls. I won't bite." A villainous laughter burst forth from him, and all the horses began stomping and whimpering in their stalls.

"Now, go. Keep going, and don't turn back, no matter what you see or hear." Anna all but pushed them towards the window, glancing over at the man below every few seconds as she watched Fina climb out the window first.

He started chuckling to himself again, and Anna wouldn't have believed it was possible for his lecherous smile to get bigger, if she hadn't witnessed it herself.

"You want to play hide and seek do you? Well run along then, before I catch up." Amathea threw a terrified gaze over her shoulder, as she began her descent down the ladder.

"Don't look back." Anna whispered, and crawled away from the ladder.

When she had backed far enough away, she rose from her crouched position and looked down at the man below her. Fighting with her lips that were trying to curl in disgust, she forced them and her limbs to tremble just as the man's black gaze caught hers.

"Who are you?" Anna wanted to cringe at the pleading tone her voice had adopted. Instead, she focused on coming across as a helpless, vulnerable and frightened young girl. Needless to say, she found it extremely hard. It took every bit of self control she had (which wasn't a lot), to ignore her natural instincts to leap down and knock the sneer off his face.

"Well isn't this a tasty surprise. You're not who I was searching for sweetheart...a bit too old for my usual tastes. But for a sweet little thing like you...I think I'll make an exception." The brute began licking his chapped lips, a dangerous new gleam brightening his eyes. "Why don't you come down?"

"I don't want to." Anna kept moving, trying to keep his focus on her. She stood beside the ledge, halfway between both sides of the walkway.

"If you come down now, I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to have a little fun." Tempting as it was to go down smash his face into the concrete floor, she knew she needed to draw this out as long as possible.

"Do you really want to make me come up there?" His voice was annoyed, yet when he took a step towards the ladder Anna noticed his panting began to quicken. The hunt excited him.

"No! I'll come down, just stay where you are." Watching the leer that broke across his face, Anna couldn't help but feel a tinge of sympathy towards the man.

He really had no idea what sort of predator he had just called upon.

Keeping up the frigthened expression, Anna never broke her gaze from his. Her body had long ago tired of the trembling limbs act, and she shimmied backwards down the steel ladder quickly, unwilling to turn her back on him.

"Now, that's better. Why don't you come over and let me get a good look at you." His voice was rumbling in his chest, the vibration of it pushing the horses into a frenzied state.

In a brief moment of wondering, Anna noticed that where there had been sixteen horses earlier, there were now twelve.

_'Girls, what are you doing?'_ She couldn't help but worry about them, until a foul stench wafted over to her.

While she was taking slow tentative steps forward, the brute was stalking ever closer to her. The smell of sweat, dirt, and the metallic tang of blood hung in the air. Looking closer at him, she could see tiny red droplets hanging from the whiskers on his face.

"What's wrong pretty? Don't you want to play?" He was so near that Anna could see the crumbling pieces of dirt that clung to his hair. His taunting laugh grated against her skin, and a muscle in her jaw twitched.

_'Fuck this.' _Her patience made an executive decision, and decided that it couldn't take anymore. After contemplating for a second, Anna reached out for the heavy shovel that rested against the empty horse stall beside her. When he started laughing, Anna gripped her weapon tighter.

Before his eyes could register what was happening, she swung the shovel through the air. A loud burst of laughter escaped her when she heard the sickening crack the metal made against his jaw. He was thrown backwards, and a gut wrenching growl ripped from his throat. When he looked up at her with black, soulless eyes, he wore a twisted grin of anger.

"Oh, is that not the 'fun' that you had in mind?" Anna laughed again, and lunged towards him with the shovel still raised.

She knew she wasn't using fair tactics, seeing as she had a weapon and he didn't. With her impressive speed and skill, she would easily out match his brute force. Long ago, she had learned that everyone's greatest strength, was also their greatest weakness.

The moment he gripped the shovel though, all thoughts of fairness bolted. He snapped the metal head off it with a mere flick of his wrist.

_'Oh shit.'_ Okay, so evidently he was a lot stronger than she had assumed.

"You're gonna regret that darlin'." The rough leer in his voice intensified when he got mad, and Anna had to fight the urge to drop the smile on her face.

"Oh, sweetheart. You really do not know what sort of mess you've just walked yourself into, do you?" Gripping the considerably lighter wooden stick again, Anna ducked out of the way just in time before the brute lunged over her head.

_'How the fuck is that thing so fast!' _She had been counting on the size of the man to be his weakness. Big, strong heavy brutes are held back by their weight...but this one apparently wasn't.

Landing with more grace than should be possible, he lunged at her again with animal like reflexes. He swung at her again, and again, and again, until Anna found herself panting along side him.

She slowly found herself being forced into a dangerous defensive stance, too busy preparing for her opponents next move to make a hit herself. With a heart stopping realisation, she found out that after years of fighting pathetic Paladins and gun toting gangsters, her once elite fighting skills had gotten rusty.

With the wooden stick slipping in her sweating palms, whilest fighting off bone crushing thump after sharp clawed scrape, Anna finally admitted that her wreckless lifestyle was catching up on her; just in time for her opponent to land a deadly hit to her stomach.

When Anna was sent flying across the stables to collide spectacularly against a wooden pen, she let out a cry.

Lying on the floor, clutching her battered stomach and trying to ignore the sharp pain in her lower ribs, Anna concentrated on the significance of that cry. Juding by her opponents stance, bent over on his knee's and panting from exertion, he hadn't noticed what Anna had.

It wasn't a cry of pain, or hurt, or fear. It was a cry of frustration.

Clenching her teeth, and grunting out in sharp breaths, she managed to push herself off the floor. Much to his surprise, she was not near finished. Kicking the broken stick away from her, Anna drew herselp up to her full height and ignored her protesting muscles. Like all skills, she just needed a bit of practice.

"Lets get back the basics then." This time, when his body flew towards her, Anna threw the beast back with one of her infamous round house kicks. As long as she kept fighting, her adrenalin would keep pumping. Because right now, that was all that was getting her by the excruciating pain of her broken rib.

* * *

**A.N: **Choosing people's names is a big thing for me, and I always try to have it symbolise them in some way. Anna's will be revealed within the next three chapters, the significance is being subtly hinted at now.

Antonin is a French form of Anthony, (or so I've been informed). Catherine comes from Greek origin and it means 'pure'. I thought Caterine fit better with Antonin.

Philip = Horse lover. Hence owning the stables.

Agrafina (Greek) = Born feet first. (I don't know exactly how that relates to horses, but that's what I was given)

Amathea I think is some form of Russian name, but don't quote me on it. It's along the same meaning of Agrafina. Basically, most of the family have horse relating names.

Also, for people who may be getting annoyed at the whole lack of Sirius-ness, he features heavily in the next chapter...and every one after that. As always, if you have any question's, feel free to ask away. P.S reviews are greatly appreciated. X


	15. No Pain, No Gain

_Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important - Ambrose Redmoon_

"Well, if you have any better ideas Black, do feel free to share them!" It was only Remus' tight grip on his shoulder that forced Sirius to bite his tongue, and ignore Mad Eye's incessant barking. It had been going on and on as a result of none of the Auror's, or Order members, being able to come up with a viable location to search for the girls.

Emmeline Vance still hadn't returned back with news from Amelia Bones. Sirius was still waiting for that useless house elf of his to show up with Mundungus Fletcher in tow...who Dumbledore wanted for Merlin knows what reasons. The frustration levels had continuously climbed to ever higher altitudes since the man disappeared five minutes ago...to do Merlin knows what.

Meanwhile, Sirius was waiting for the throbbing vein in Mad Eye's forehead to explode. He swore he could hear the blood pound through it every time someone made any suggestion that further boiled the Head Auror's blood. Mad Eye, not known for his sensitive nature, made no secret of the fact that he would rather be out hunting Death Eaters, than searching for missing children.

After suggesting that the former suited Mad Eye's delicate temperament better, Sirius began to feel the heat of Moody's magical eye on his back. That thing never failed to give him the creeps...

Sirius tried to regain his patience in order to avoid getting his bollocks hexed off by the temper mental Auror. He rejoined Remus in standing by the large bay window, gazing out at the twilight sky. He had watched the kaleidoscope of colours blend through it, until a violet hue finally spread itself across it. With the sun finally absent, it wouldn't be long until darkness descended.

Making her sudden appearance from behind a drifting lilac cloud, the moon finally presented herself to torture his friend with her almost full orb. Remus' profound sigh reminded Sirius that in two night's time, Mooney would have to go through his monthly ordeal.

When they were kids, Sirius sometimes managed to get his friend to look forward to his transformation. Their ever daring adventures grew more mischievous as the years went by, each month making them more reckless than the last. Finally feeling accepted for once his life; Remus often brushed the pain of his transformation off, stating 'no pain, no gain'. The four of them laughed at it, recounting the stories of the cuts and bruises they received the next day, as if they had been doing nothing more than messing around on the Quidditch pitch.

"I'm going to go and see what's keeping Anna." Tonks' voice broke Sirius away from his reminiscing.

At the immediate mention of the young woman's name, a foreboding sensation fell over him. Judging by how suddenly the air stilled between himself and his friend, Sirius knew that Remus felt the same thing.

"Sirius, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Neither of them moving their gazes from outside, they remained still as statues.

"If your thinking that Anna hasn't been this quiet since we first met her yesterday, then yes. Yes I am. " Simultaneously, the pair of them turned and brushed shoulders, just in time to watch his younger cousin's trademark clumsiness reaffirm its presence.

Hastily jumping out of Dumbledore's way, who marched briskly around the corner, Nymphadora toppled backwards over a stray stool in the small kitchen.

In a flash, Remus was behind her, catching her before she fell back and bounced her head off the hard floor.

_'Damn, he's fast this time of the month.'_ Sirius mused, turning his glance away to avoid the soppy smile's being traded between his best friend and younger cousin.

"Young lass decided to cut her loss's, has she Dumbledore?" Sirius' ears perked at Mad Eye's haughty statement. He seemed almost proud of himself.

Surely Anna wouldn't have left, without telling someone?

"I wouldn't go that far Alastor. I simply believe that Anna has placed more faith in her own methods, than she did in ours." With that, Dumbledore dropped a photo down onto their base of operations; a.k.a a blank map laid out on a kitchen work surface.

"Albus, what are you talking ab-" Sirius was broke off from his question by the loud 'Shh!' that Remus sent his way.

About to glare at his friend's interruption, Sirius shut up when he watched Remus stealthily make his way towards the back glass door. A faraway look claimed his eyes, and his head was cocked to the side.

Sirius knew what that look was for; he had adopted it many times as Padfoot, when he was trying to listen out for something that caught his interests.

Brow's furrowing, Remus pulled the sliding door open and stepped outside into the Hunters' well maintained back garden. That is of course if you could call an open field the size of a Quidditch pitch, a garden.

Tentatively stepping forward, Sirius waited eagerly to hear what Remus' heightened hearing could pick up.

"It sounds like...hooves?" Thrown slightly off by Remus' diagnosis, Sirius began scanning the green fields. The most exciting thing he saw was a hare scurrying over the hill's situated at the back of the property. It had run towards them for a few seconds, before thinking better of it and veering off to the left through the grass that seemed to go on for forever.

Turning to Remus, Sirius watched his friend continue to frown. The lines on his forehead became more pronounced, as his brow continued to furrow. When a startled gleam claimed his eyes, Remus took a short, calculating sniff.

Like an animal on a hunt, Remus' nose began twitching as he sniffed the air, trying to pin point the smell that didn't fit.

Sirius knew something was seriously wrong when Tonks placed a gentle hand on Remus' shoulder, and the man's whole demeanour shifted. A growl erupted from his lips, and Sirius could see the animal side of his friend fighting to break through, wrapping an arm around Tonks' waist and forcing her behind him, back towards the house.

"Remus, what is it, what do you smell?" Sirius grabbed his friends shoulder, ignoring the growl he received and stared into the man's dilated pupils, forcing him to concentrate on him. After taking a deep breath, Remus' eyes returned to normal size, and a worried look fell across his face.

With clipped words and a ferocious tone, Remus informed the curious group leaning out of the back door that 'Fenrir Greyback is prowling somewhere behind those hills."

As if to prove this point, three horses suddenly leapt over the top of the hill, and began to gallop towards the house.

As the animals came closer, Sirius noticed that the chestnut horse leading the group was carrying a small person; a small, pale skinned, blonde haired person.

"That's one of the girls." Sirius whispered, before taking off at full speed towards her, followed by Remus, Charlie and Nymphadora bringing up the rear. They didn't have far to run, before the chestnut horse was pulled to a stop in front of them, its young rider pulling tightly against the reins.

"Woah, Ginger, woah." The young girl's voice was shaking, and she looked down at him with desperation in her watery eyes.

"Are you alright pet?" Sirius asked as he neared the girl.

"I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore, quickly!" The young girl was restless, and so was her horse, as it danced impatiently from foot to foot.

Sirius was about to lead her to him, before the man himself appeared at his elbow.

"Are you alright child? Where is your sister?" Dumbledore's voice, which Sirius had expected to sooth the girl, appeared to bring more panic to her already flustered state of mind.

"She's down at the stables, but hurry, you have to come quick! There's a man, he came, and he was scary! We couldn't get out, so she told us to go out through the window! I thought she'd follow us out, but she just told us to run, and not look back! She told us to find Professor Dumbledore and to bring him back to-"

"Who? Who told you to run?" Sirius had a sudden idea where his bad feeling was coming from. He predicted the answer before the words even left the young girls mouth and now his stomach was turning in knots.

"Anna!" The young girl's voice finally broke into a sob of exasperation when she screamed at them.

"Take me to her." Sirius muttered in a monotone voice, grabbing onto the back saddle of the horse and jumping on at once behind the trembling girl. His hands had barely reached the reins, when the young girl had the horse turned, and they were pelting back down towards the hill. Even with the roaring wind whistling in his ears, Sirius couldn't force the worrying thoughts out of his mind.

Anna ticked all the right boxes; beautiful, vulnerable looking and young. One sight of her, and all Fenrir Greyback's Christmas' would come true.

* * *

"Hey Chewbacca, easy with the claws yeah?" Needless to say, by this stage, Anna was _pissed_.

At the current moment, her problems had totalled thus far; Dumbledore had yet to make an appearance, making her anxious for a whole host of reasons- the main one being 'What the fuck was taking the girls so long?'

On top of that, she was certain that she was sporting _at least_ one broken rib, if not three, and the fact that she was coughing up blood was doing nothing to alleviate her concerns.

She was distinctly aware that her bad ankle was acting up again, and that never before had it emitted the creaking sound it was now.

Her entire body was covered in gashes and cuts, old scars were reopened, and tiny trickles of blood were staining her arms and legs. The idea of bathing in vodka had intrigued her earlier, knowing that it would be the only way to completely disinfect her from whatever lice/flea's/disease/infection that the man with the negligible hygiene was carrying. At this stage, she'd probably be better off throwing herself into a heap of wasp covered nettles, because either way it would sting like a mother fucker.

She liked to think that she was handling it all well; until she was scratched by a set of two inch fingernails -a man's two inch fingernails. The prospect of spending hours in a waiting room to receive a tetanus shot had just knocked a considerable amount of leeway off Anna's patience metre.

"Do you have any idea how long the wait is in casualty on a weekend?" Barely able to comprehend the thought of having to visit A&E, _yet again,_ Anna chose to fuel all her remaining anger into her next manoeuvre.

And there was a_ lot_ of it.

When the sneering manic lunged at Anna with his sweat dripping whiskers, not only did Anna not feel pain. She didn't feel anything- no fear, no terror, no exhaustion. Swivelling on her stable left foot, she launched herself into the air and brought both feet crashing into her opponent's chest with bone shattering force- literally.

_'At least now I'm not the only one with a few _broken _ribs.' _She forced herself to think through her pain as she landed flat on her arse. The hay strewn floor softened her landing, slightly, but it was still through tear filled eyes that she watched him fall to the floor with a heavy thud.

His body hit the floor with such force, that it bounced up again on impact.

Knowing he would be down for a few moments, Anna bit back her cries of pain, and wrapped an arm around her burning chest. Scurrying away, she could feel broken rib move beneath her palm. Every shuffle forced the bone to grind against the rest of her rib cage. Every breath she took resulted in a piercing stab into her lung.

Her shallow breathing was making her head light, and when a quiet haze encompassed her brain, she became forcibly aware of how dizzy she was.

_'Note to self: From now on, no matter how bad the hangover, I must always eat breakfast, to ensure avoidance of dizziness and weakness during struggle for life.'_

Feeling her limbs start to shake, Anna knew that her role in this fight was over as she struggled to stand up. She couldn't hold him off any longer, not in this state. All she could hope for was that Dumbledore, or someone, would know who this man was. When she got a chance to regain her strength, she would go after him, and have her own 'fun'.

_'It might be a good idea to start making plans that concern the present time A!'_ Her breath hitching, Anna noticed that the brute across from her was moving again. Raising his head off the floor, his eyes were unfocused as he looked at her.

A brief shake of his head, and they were burning into her again. Letting out a ferocious growl that seemed to shake the foundations of the stables, he hurled himself off the ground and began barrelling towards her like a bullet.

Desperately searching for a way to remove herself from her current predicament of being unable to stop the huge form of muscle and rags heading straight towards her, a light bulb went off in Anna's head.

Instead of it being her down fall, she would turn the situation, so that his unstoppable momentum would bring about his own end, thus providing her with a reasonably safe exit.

Taking two steps behind back towards the one of now many empty horse pen's, Anna braced herself for the excruciating pain she was about to inflict upon herself, whilst marvelling at her own brilliance. A split second before their bodies were to make contact, she flung herself to the side and wrapped her left arm around the heavy iron chain that she was almost certain was behind her.

Screaming out a cry of triumph and pain as she clasped the cool metal in her grasp, Anna hoisted her body off the ground and swung out of her attacker's path of fury just in time.

Squinting through tear filled eyes, she forced herself through her pain, and twisted her body mid air so that she could witness him tear a man shaped hole through the stable wall, sending harmless shards of splintered wood flying in all directions.

Still hugging her broken ribs with her right hand, the right hand side of her body collided with the framework of a horse pen, and she gingerly slid her body down to rest on the stable floor.

Finally sitting still, she re-registered just how much pain her body was in. Her shallow breaths were coming in loud gasps as she uselessly tried to slow her breathing. A bout of nausea fell over her when another cough wracked her body, bringing more blood up to pool in her mouth. Barely able to move her body, she allowed the blood to trickle out the side of her mouth. The metallic taste of it almost made her retch, and the smell of it burned her nose when she wiped it across her cheek.

She sat on the floor like a bag of bones, praying that the 'cousin it' look-a-like had either impaled himself on a splintered stake, or else cut his losses and left. By the sounds of things, he wasn't returning any time soon, and with all the horses free of their pens, the girls were sure to be safe in their home, protected by Dumbledore and everyone else.

Surely enough, the thought of the girls' safety hadn't even left Anna's head, when the loud scream of a child pierced through the air outside.

_'For the love of God, please don't say I spoke to soon.'_

Instantly regretting her own foolishness in thinking that things could have ended for once without her having to kill someone, maim someone, or else end up passing out (which was the favourite at this stage), she spat the remainder of the blood from her mouth.

"This does not bode well for somebody." Growling under her breath, Anna struggled to get back to her feet, and began dragging her body towards the man made hole in the wall as fast as she could, wincing every time she took a breath or put her right foot on the floor.

Now fully aware that the girl's hadn't done exactly what she'd asked, due to the empty stables, Anna was fighting against every fibre of her body to not collapse right there, and fall asleep before the last few minutes of dusk left.

Using the splintered wood to lean against, she ignored the sharp pokes she received in her bare arm. Immediately upon stepping out of the stables, her eyes fell on a frightened Agrafina.

She was standing by the fence still screaming, as she tugged with all her might against the reins of a horse that were tangled around the lock on the fence gate. The horse itself was rearing on its hind legs, its shoe clad hooves coming dangerously close to Fina's tiny little frame.

That horse was the least of Fina's worries at the moment though. From here on in, what Anna could only describe as 'the Creature', was making a beeline for Fina on all fours, moving on the ground like with a freakish amount of speed and grace. Animalistic grace, that is.

"Fina, leave the horse and run!" Fighting against her broken rib, Anna knew her efforts at shouting to Fina were worthless. In her terrified state, the girl was only registering one thing and one thing only; the growling man on all fours that was heading straight towards her.

Knowingly throwing all caution to the wind '_for the last time ever!'_ Anna threw all her weight on her right foot and began to sprint.

"I could have gone to Rio. I could have gone to Fiji. I could have gone to the fucking Arctic Circle, and wound up in better condition than this. But no, I couldn't have done the smart thing, and left without seeing 'what a wizard keeps in his office'! From now on, I am not leaving a room without mapping out any, and all possible outcomes! FUCK!" As the final swear left her mouth, several things occurred which finally severed all of Anna's ignorance of pain.

One- On her last step she heard the sickening crack of snapping bone- before she felt the splintering pain of her re-broken ankle.

Two-She Jumped, and was roaring in said pain when her speed brought her crashing into the hurtling form of the wolf like man.

Three-She heard her name being called and vaguely registered that horses were bringing people down the hill.

And of course, the fourth thing- Anna managed to impress even herself, by Jumping at the exact right moment that ensured her momentum would fling her into the three hundred pound body that was moving with out of this world speed and strength. Of course, she could have done it a step earlier, and avoided the inexplicable pain of a broken ankle. But hey, no pain, no gain.

As the inevitable conniption ensued, she found time to praise her own impeccable timing, while her mangled limbs were forcibly wrapped around 'The Creature' by gravity. Amidst grunts of confusion, frustration, and cries of excruciating pain, Anna and 'The Creature' were thrown through the air, his body taking the brunt of the impact against the heavy wooden fence, until the two of them started to tumble across the threshold.

Arms and legs tangling with each other, it was Anna that took the brunt of their impact when they rolled to a heavy halt, right by the border of the forest.

It was an incredibly surreal moment for her when she blearily opened her eyes and found she was struggling to keep her surroundings in focus. Some part in the back of her mind was screaming at her to realize that this was something that she was supposed to care about, and that the bone grinding thud she heard when she landed wasn't something to be dismissed either.

She just felt the hot and sticky blood begin to weave a path down the back of her neck when a spell of dizziness encased her, and she vaguely registered that the half ton weight that was pinning her to the ground may have had something to do with her restricted access to oxygen.

Moaning and groaning, she tried to lift the heavy bags of sand that were her limbs. She tried to push him off her, but in her disoriented state, her brain was starting to shut itself down. While he was still on top of her, she couldn't Jump without bringing him along for the ride. Hell, she couldn't even summon the energy to Jump, period.

Slowly losing focus, Anna's head lolled to the side. Her cheek just about brushed the tips of the soft grass before her jaw was caught in a vice like grip. Startled, she peeled her eyes open and started gasping for breath, watching the blurred pupils of 'The Creature' dilate, until his eyes became an empty black abyss.

As if one of this wasn't bad enough, Anna saw his disgusting face sneering down at her in double. Her vision came back into focus when a long nailed finger prodded her cheek, before running up and down the length of her face. She could almost feel the dirt etch itself under her skin.

Her breath hitched in her chest when he suddenly stilled and cocked his head to the side. A light lit up in his eyes, like he had just learned something of great interest to him, and his smile grew even wider when he looked back down at her.

"So, Anna, is it?" His croaky voice smothered her, as well as his horrid breath. She could feel his chest vibrating as he spoke, and the realisation of her own body being so close to his brought on another bout of coughing.

Much to his delight, more blood began to spill from the side of her mouth, and he watched it longingly as it spilled down her face, fell from her chin and landed in droplets onto her chest. Unable to lift her head, Anna began to choke from the blood that was pooling at the back of her throat.

He watched her struggle for a few moments and smiled, until he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck with a fierce tug and pulled her head off the ground, closer to his. "I can't allow you to die yet pretty. We're going to have so much fun."

He was still sneering when a jet of light flew past his shoulder, and Anna was blinded momentarily. She remained unaware of what was about to happen to her, until she felt his rough tongue trace the path of blood from her chest to the corner of her mouth.

"Delicious." Gripping her closer to his body, he pushed his nose into her hair, inhaling deeply. She could feel the sores from his lips against her cheek, when he brought his mouth to her ear and whispered "I'll find you again soon. I promise"

Dropping her body unceremoniously to the ground, he dodged another jet of light and disappeared into the shelter of the forest, laughing manically to himself the entire time.

Anna was struggling to keep her eyes open when a loud thud beside her announced another arrival. Without the energy to even care whether or not it was friend or foe, she didn't question the relief that fluttered through her body when she caught the scent of petrol-

* * *

Sirius' heart was beating in his throat by the time they crested over the hill.

It turns out that most skills once learned, apparently are never forgotten. Just like getting back on his beloved motorbike after sixteen years, Sirius learned that riding a horse was much the same as riding a thestral-except for the placement of your feet.

When he was a lad, he tended to rest them in the groove of the thestral's wings. The young girl was already using the stir-ups, and his entire body was feeling extremely unstable on the relatively small horse.

Sirius heard the young child in front of him sob with relief when they caught sight of her sister. Dragging a horse by the reins towards the fence, she was flustered and panicked, but not under any obvious threat or pain.

The young rider spurred the horse onwards, and Sirius turned his head to notice that Remus and Charlie were bringing up the rear behind him.

A crashing sound by the barn brought Sirius' attention back to the matter at hand. His body stilled at the sight of a man bursting through the side of the stable wall in a cloud of broken wood and dust.

Of course, he knew already who it was. Only the beastly form of Fenrir Greyback could be that large.

The little girl in front of him spurred her tired horse on. They were making a bee line straight for her sister, who stood frozen in a moment of shock at the werewolf that had just burst through the side of her barn.

Sirius' frantic gaze was skipping back and forth between the stumbling form of Greyback, and the now even more panicked little girl fighting with frightened horse. They were too far away from Greyback for Sirius' to get a good shot at him with a spell.

What was worse was that Greyback was far too close to the little girl, who managed to get her horses rein's somehow caught in the fence.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Greyback was in bad shape. It took him a good few minutes to get off the ground and dust himself off. He hadn't gotten himself in that state by running through a stable wall...

With a sickening churn, Sirius remembered the little girl's words; _she just told us to run, and not look back._

_'Anna, what have you done?'_ She might have been able to hold her own against a few fumbling muggles and their disturbing weapons- she had no chance against a werewolf.

Yet something in the back of his mind was telling him that it wasn't over for her- at least not yet. Greyback would have known that the girls weren't in the stables when he got there, something had distracted him. Something held him back.

And something forced him to make his own impromptu exit through the wall, rather than use the door.

Still holding onto the shred of hope he had for the mysterious woman that had just entered his life, Sirius got back to the bigger problem at hand.

The two little girls were screaming, and Fenrir Greyback was sprinting towards one of them on all fours.

Sirius raised his wand, ready to take a shot, knowing the chances of him hitting the fast moving Greyback weren't improbable-they were impossible.

The little girl was frozen with fear, legs locked in place. She didn't even seem to realize that it wasn't her that was caught, it was the bloody horse.

_'We'll get to her. Hopefully in time to stop him getting his jaws locked onto her.'_ Sirius already knew that it would take nothing short of a miracle to get the little girl out of this unscathed. Even now, it was too late for her to start running.

But then something happened, faster than the blink of an eye. It was so fast, that at first he didn't understand what it was.

Greyback almost had the girl in his clutches, ten more seconds and he would have had his teeth latched onto her tiny throat.

Then, over the little girls' screams, he heard a shriek of pain so terrible that he thought the skin was about to peel away from his body. A second later, Greyback somehow managed to get knocked off course, because the next thing Sirius saw was the werewolf flying through the wooden fence.

Except Greyback wasn't alone.

His mind went into overdrive when he saw Anna wrapped around Greyback. Her tiny body was tumbling around his in the air, her little frame thrown around like a rag doll, yet somehow managing to get entangled in his giant form.

He swore he felt her pain when she landed on the hard ground by the forest, the brutish figure of Greyback pinning her down.

From what he could see, the both of them were dazed, barely stirring after the hard hit they took when they rolled to an abrupt halt by the woods edge. He watched with a still heart as Anna started coming around to herself, struggling to push the heavy weight off her, to no avail.

Greyback was still stretched on top off her, seemingly unaware as to what was happening. Upon reaching the fence where the young girl was wrestling to try and calm her horse, Sirius felt his body lurch forward.

The tired horse he was riding dug its hooves into the ground in protest, snorting and refusing to go any further. Its young rider was still shaking and tugging on the reins, urging the animal to continue forward even as he was jumping off the horse.

He burst into a run the moment his feet hit the floor. He was torn between transforming into Padfoot to reach her faster, but the idea of being unable to use his wand was holding him back.

_'Come on Anna, get moving!' _He needed her to get up, to get away from Greyback. He couldn't shout to her, he couldn't risk rousing Greyback.

He could hear his own heartbeat slam in his chest, his footfalls moving sluggishly slow. His wand was gripped tightly in his hand, ready to start firing spells as soon as he got close enough. He couldn't risk Anna getting in the way.

His attention was so focused on her, that he didn't see that Greyback was beginning to stir. His breath caught in his own throat when he saw Anna's raised head loll to the side. Just before it hit the ground, a hairy, dirty hand reached out and gripped her face.

Greyback was leering down at her, oblivious to Sirius making his way forward, and to the hooves of the two horses coming up behind him. He could hear Remus shouting for him to be careful, and Charlie spouting the same nonsense. How could he be careful, when Greyback could easily snap her neck with the flick of his wrist?

"Anna, move away from him!" He couldn't understand why she didn't use her own magic, why she wouldn't Jump? She had just done it a few seconds ago!

Greyback cocked his head to the side, without even looking in his direction. The closer Sirius got, the more he realised just how badly Anna looked. Fuck, he was surprised she was still breathing, after the beating she obviously took from Greyback.

There were cut's all across her body, her jeans were torn, and from what he could see she wasn't wearing any shoes. To his dismay, the area where she landed was also littered with smooth, round rocks. Small, yet enough to cause damage.

Greyback was saying something to her while trapping her beneath him. Anna's body began to jerk wildly, her chest arching off the ground. Greyback was laughing at her struggles. Sirius stomach churned when the werewolf grabbed Anna behind the neck and pulled her head off the ground.

His lecherous face was millimetres from her own, and Sirius could only imagine how terrified she was. Being caught underneath the body of Fenrir Greyback would easily make the top five nightmare's of anyone, Death Eaters included. Sirius could almost smell him from here, his stench carrying through the clean forest air.

Throwing his wand arm out, Sirius silently sent a stunning spell for Greyback's leering face. The spell missed, flying straight past Greyback's shoulder.

Sirius watched on in horror as Greyback opened his mouth, almost certain that he was going in for the kill, straight to Anna's throat. His steps almost faltered when he witnessed Greyback tilt his head to the side and lick a trail from Anna's chest, right up to the spot beside her mouth.

Anna's body lurched again, Greyback's arm hitching her closer to his body, glowing from the feel of her trembling body beneath him. His face was hidden in her mane of hair, and it was just as Greyback threw Anna's body back onto the ground that he growled a furious 'Stupefy!'. His spell grazed the werewolf's shoulder, causing little to no damage.

_'Blasted werewolf blood!'_ He growled under his breath again, remembering the ever growing moon in the darkening sky above.

Greyback took off into the forest, stumbling through the trees before apparating out of sight. Sirius heard the 'pop!' just as his numb legs fell to the floor beside Anna with a thud.

"Anna, stay with me!" Her bright green eyes blinked for a few moments, unfocused. She caught her eyes with his, and a short sigh escaped from her lips. A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and a faraway look appeared in her glazed over eyes. Their brightness was flickering in sync with her shallow breaths.

"Anna, it's going to be alright, pet. I've got you." He reached out and pulled her trembling body onto his lap, cradling her head with his arm. She gasped loudly, and his breath hitched when a hot liquid smeared onto his arm from the back of her head, matting her own soft hair and smudging against the fine hair on his arm.

Her head was rolling from side to side on his arm, her eye lids twitching with the rapid movements beneath them. With each pained lift of her lids, he watched her become even more delirious. Reaching his left arm beneath her knees, he pulled her weightless body off the ground, holding her limp against his chest.

"Sirius, mate-" Remus' voiced was filled with sorrow when his hand came to rest on Sirius' shoulder. He heard the two young girls' crying, and turned around quickly, his eyes searching his friend's grimacing face for help.

"She's- she's alive?" Remus' backed up a step upon seeing Anna's rapidly moving chest. He reached a hand out to her bruised neck, checking for a pulse that he believed wouldn't be there.

"She won't be for much longer if we don't get her to a hospital!" Sirius' barked, frightening the two crying girls who were clutching Charlie Weasley's robes. He looked at them apologetically for a moment, annoyed with himself for scaring them. They were so tiny, trembling and crying for the girl that had rescued them.

"Is she going to be alright?" The one holding Charlie's right hand sobbed. Unable to answer her because he was thinking the same thing, Sirius just let out a frustrated sigh.

Her body remained limp in the cradle of his arms, the lack of her usually vibrant presence like a ripped void in the air around him. He couldn't stop to think how she had become so vital to him, in the few hours that he had known her?

In the back of his mind, there was a numb place. A part of him that didn't fit there, that was drifting. He couldn't catch a hold of it, was barely even aware of its existence until a deep calm settled over him, and his mind went blank.

"Everybody, gather around." Dumbledore appeared before them, holding a horse's bridle in his hand.

"No need to be frightened dear, just place your finger her, like so." Dumbledore reached down and guided one of the little girl's fingers to the bridle, her sister following suit. Coming around to stand by Sirius, Dumbledore wove the cheek piece into one of Sirius' hands that was clutching Anna's body to his chest.

"And, three, two, one." With the usual feeling of a hook behind his naval, Sirius finally understood what was happening. In his frazzled state, he just assumed the old man was doing yet another daft act.

Moving rapidly with the portkey, Anna's body was pushed against Sirius' chest. He clutched her tightly to him, tensing his right arm to prevent her neck from swaying and hurting her. Although at the present moment, a mild case of whiplash would be the least of her worries.

Within five seconds, the portkey released them the moment Dumbledore's finger let go. Sirius' feet hit the hard floor, and he only realised where they were when Madam Pomfrey came bustling over to him, potions in hand and a bed already prepared.

Obviously, Dumbledore had informed her they were in dire need of her assistance.

"Quickly, Sirius, place her on the bed." Dumbledore's elbow gripped Sirius' elbow in an attempt to guide him towards the bed. Sirius' feet had glued themselves to the floor, however, the moment he heard Anna's gasp.

Her startling green eyes opened, bigger than he had even seen them before. They were shining so brightly, lit by an intense fire within her. Her already shallow breathing quickened and he could feel her heartbeat fluttering against his chest, like a bird beats its wings before it soars.

"Sirius, do you hear that?" When Anna spoke, it was more like she breathed out the words. Her eyes hadn't settled on him, instead they were drifting around the room. She searched the ceiling above them, but he had already concluded that in her delirious state, she was seeing a lot more than stone walls and rose windows.

"Hear what Anna?" It was Dumbledore who questioned her, because Sirius found that his voice would not obey his mind. The words stuck in his throat when he watched her beautiful face light up.

"The singing...it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard." Still breathing her words to them, she looked so surreal. Her entire being was glowing with happiness, and the joyous look on her face was out of place in the ordinary hospital wing.

Her shining face and presence graced them from a dream, while her frail body sought them out from a horrible nightmare.

Her sparkling yet glazed green eyes drifting between this world and her own dream world, Sirius thought he had never seen anything as wonderful in his life. Her sense of sanity had vacated and it was taking her senses with it to a blissful nirvana.

Whatever music she was hearing, it must have been extraordinary, to light up her face like it was. She was lying in his arms like a floating angel from some ancient myth, her face that of a legendary queen of old.

"Quickly, Black, bring her here before she goes completely mad." Pulling himself out of his daze, Sirius quickly carried her light body to the bed and placed her gently on the stiff white sheets. When he pulled his arm out from underneath her warm shoulder, her hand reached out to grasp his in her own.

Drawing his gaze to her pale face, he was shocked from what he saw. Her once dark hair, the colour of rich chocolate, was lit through with tones of vibrant auburn. Her skin had an almost ethereal glow to it, as if some bright light inside of her was burning out with a final rush of light, filling her with an other worldly glow before extinguishing.

But it was her eyes that made him gasp.

Where once they had been drifting aimlessly, bright green and staring through him whenever he managed to catch her gaze; now they were locked onto his very soul with a burning desperation, a frightened spark ignited in the back of their emerald fires.

"Sirius, please say you can hear it too?" Her voice trembled when she whispered to him, her voice husky and strained. Her tense hand clutched his, holding onto it for dear life. It was as if he was her one remaining stronghold in a treacherous sea, and she was holding onto him for fear of getting washed away by the great wave of terror that was about to consume her.

"Sirius?" She coughed again, and it was then he realised that it wasn't fear in her eyes. It was despair; she was pleading with him to answer her, to tell her he could hear whatever her delusional mind was whispering to her.

Madam Pomfrey reached to remove her hand from his, and a strangled cry left Anna's throat. She gripped his hand even tighter, and tried to raise herself of the bed, and a fit of coughing began to wrack her body, and she began trembling; but still she would not relinquish her grip on his hand.

Never moving his eyes from her face, Sirius saw Madam Pomfrey bend down over Anna's body, trying to draw Sirius' gaze. Her eyes were wide, and her head was making a nodding motion, trying to purvey him a silent message: _just agree with her you idiot._

"I hear it too Anna." He whispered, and reached his other hand out to brush her hair out of her eyes. He felt her forehead burn under his touch, his hand sliding easily across the sheen of sweat that had built itself up there.

Her eyes flickered once more, and a deep sigh escaped from her lips.

"No you don't...but it's alright." She breathed out a last rasping laugh, before her eyes finally closed and her chest sunk back down to the bed.

Her breathing evened out, her body stilled, and a look of intense calm consumed her face. Her eyes stopped flickering behind their heavy lids, and, for the moment, Anna was at peace.

Her grip loosened on his hand, but still she didn't let go. Or maybe it was him that didn't let go?

Either way, he felt himself unable to move away from her side.

With frantic eyes, he looked up to Madam Pomfrey, who was bustling from side to side, running her wand up and down Anna's body and muttering rapid incantations under her breath.

"Is she going to be alright?" He asked hurriedly, the numb piece in the back of his mind had thankfully vanished, and now his concern was back to the forefront of his mind. It wouldn't be until much later, that Sirius would realise that he missed that piece of him. The piece that didn't belong, but was there somehow.

Madam Pomfrey spared him a glare, not breaking the string of words from her mouth to answer his question.

"Fina, look!" Sirius turned his head at the sound of one of the little girls' excited voices, her little finger pointing up towards the highest window of the hospital wing.

With the moon's silver light bouncing off his fiery wings, Dumbledore's majestic phoenix Fawkes, glided in through the window, descending down towards them in winding circles. Sirius turned to Dumbledore, expecting the magical being to fly directly to its master who was wearing a bemused smile.

Instead, the bird came to a soft rest by Anna's shoulder, and Madam Pomfrey backed away with a gasp.

Sirius stared in awe when the creature leaned forward over the three long claw marks on Anna's shoulder, and began shedding glistening tears onto her tanned skin.

Before his very eyes, the wound left to her by Greyback started to heal itself; the blood washing away and the nasty red swipes of torn flesh sealing together. Taking a graceful step forward on its golden talon feet, Fawkes extended his remarkable red and gold feathered wings and reached over Anna's still body, dropping his head down over to the left side of her face.

Fawkes remained in the position for a few more seconds, before pulling his head back and regarding Anna's peaceful sleeping face. His long golden tail feather brushed over her body twice, from left to right, and raising his wings once more, the bird took off into the air, winding in a circle around his master before floating off up to the window, disappearing into the night air.

After a few moments, Madam Pomfrey moved forward again, bustling into Sirius' side.

"For Merlin's sake Sirius, I have to tend to my patient." Madam Pomfrey glared at him in indignation, throwing her arms up in frustration. Sparks flew from the end of her wand, dangerously close to singeing his lustrous black locks.

He didn't have the heart to make a smart comment though, not when he was still holding Anna's warm hand in his own and staring down at her sleeping face.

"Come on Sirius, let's just stand over here." Remus placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder, and Sirius gave Anna's hand one final squeeze before he placed her warm hand gently onto the bed beside her. Just as he was turning away from her sleeping face, he heard sniff behind him, and remembered that the two young girls were just as anxious about Anna as he was.

He turned around to face them, crouching down on his hunkers. They both regarded him warily from their place on the two chairs by Anna's beside, tightly gripping each other's hands. They really were identical.

"Hello girls. I'm sorry we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Sirius. What's yours?" Smiling gently at them, he kept it up while 'Fina' and 'Thea' informed him of their names with tired, trembling voices.

"I have to go and talk to Dumbledore now, but would you two mind doing me a favour? Would you stay here and watch over Anna?" Smiling at both of their vigorous nods, he rose from his knees.

"I'll be right over here if you need anything." Still smiling, he turned away from the girls and walked over to Dumbledore and Charlie, with Remus in tow.

"Since when are you so good with children?" Remus nudged Sirius in the ribs, a mocking look in his eyes.

"Since your son is more of a handful than James was before a visit to the barbers." Both of them laughed quietly between themselves, sobering when they reached Dumbledore.

"Am I correct in stating that the full moon is only two days away, Remus?" His old voice held a tone of amusement behind it, for what reason Sirius couldn't fathom.

"Yes Albus, unfortunately. I know Greyback didn't bite Anna, but can Fawkes' tears prevent him spreading any of his lycanthropy?" Remus' voice was concerned, wondering if the delicate girl on the bed would be eating her meat raw from now on.

"Phoenix tears can bring one back from the brink of death Remus. I am quite certain that any harm down to Anna by Fenrir Greyback has been cured by Fawkes." Dumbledore informed them, a fierce pride in his eyes while speaking of his beloved familiar.

"It's a good thing you called for him Dumbledore. Merlin only knows what sort of infection Anna could have picked up off that creature." Sirius growled at the mere thought of Fenrir Greyback, the man who proudly hunted young children for fun.

"Oh, it wasn't I who called for Fawkes." Dumbledore informed Sirius, before smiling fondly over at Anna's sleeping figure in the bed.

Sirius regarded her with confusion, wondering if he was picking up on Dumbledore's message correctly. How on earth could Anna have called for Fawkes, she was almost unconscious by the time he got to her?

Sirius stared at Dumbledore in confusion, along with Charlie and Remus, but the old man only continued to watch as one of the little twins passed a steaming goblet into Madam Pomfrey's hand. The other twin was round the other side of the bed, gently propping Anna's head up off the numerous pillow's under her head, helping Madam Pomfrey to pour what was sure to be a foul tasting potion down her throat.

Handing the still steaming goblet back to one of the girls, Madam Pomfrey fluffed up Anna's pillows beneath her head a final time. Turning around, she put her hands on the little girls' shoulders, whispering soft words of reassurance to them, before turning around and marching over to Dumbledore with her hands on her hips and a scowl that would give even Molly Weasley a run for her money.

"The poor thing has two broken ribs and a broken ankle Albus, not to mention severe bruising to her stomach and a rather nasty bang to the back of her head. I've given her Skele-Gro, but with the state she's in, I'm sure she'll sleep through that ordeal for the night. Not to mention she's been coughing up blood as well. What on earth was she doing?" Frowning at the Head master as if it were his fault, Madam Pomfrey regarded Remus, Sirius and Charlie with a disapproving look.

"Poppy, I'm afraid that Anna has had an encounter with Fenrir Greyback. As dreadful as the situation is, I cannot help but feel that Anna is an extremely fortunate young woman." Dumbledore spoke to them in a serious tone, reminding them of how fatal the situation could have been.

Madam Pomfrey hummed her disapproval at Dumbledore's words, mild shock entering her eyes for a moment. She was scowling over at Anna's slumbering body, and Sirius wasn't the only one that noticed her furrowed brow.

"You do not seem as shocked as I would have thought, Poppy?" Dumbledore skilful enquiring prompted only more huffing out of the matron.

"Well, this is the second time I've tended to the girl in two days Albus. From checking her over, I wager that Anna is not unused to running into _accidents._ Her body is riddled with scars, and not the everyday kind. Burns marks and nasty looking knife wounds, hidden among all those _tattoos_. If I'm not mistaken, her ankle has been broken at least twice, and never properly reset. Not until now, of course." Madam Pomfrey informed then, a haughty tone to her voice. Evidently, she was proud of the care she gave her.

"I am sure that there is a great deal more to Anna than meets the eye Poppy." At Dumbledore's mysterious remark, Madam Pomfrey excused herself and went back over to check on her patient, before attending the two young girls and coaxing them away from Anna's bedside so that she could look after them.

While they remained in silence, the quiet rustle of robes announced a new presence entering into the hospital wing. Turning around, Sirius was surprised to see that it was Tonks who was joining them; she managed not to knock over -or into- anything on her way.

"Oh, thank heavens you're all alright." Sidling up to Remus' side, she wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into his embrace.

"How's Anna? And the girls?" She asked the group anxiously, craning her neck to look over the Remus' shoulder.

"The girls are alright, a bit shaken up but not hurt. Anna...well, she lost consciousness when we brought her here. Madam Pomfrey's taken care of her, but she's still out cold."

"She'll be alright though?" Tonks asked suspiciously, apparently surprised that she wasn't met with tragic news.

"Yes, I think so. She got a lucky escape from Greyback." Remus growled the man's name. The hatred engraved in his tone was unmatched by anyone else who held a deep dislike for Greyback. Aside from the fact that it was Greyback who had first passed his curse onto his old friend, Sirius found out that Mooney hated Greyback more for the fact that he revelled in the unconctrollable beast he became during the full moon. Sirius was among the many who knew of Remus' fiercly kind heart. Poor Remus couldn't comprehend why anyone would gladly spread the curse of the werewolf to another living soul.

Remus' words had jerked something in Sirius' mind, calling back to him the last image he had of Greyback.

"I don't know if you'd call it an escape exactly. Anna was barely moving when we got to her, Greyback could have killed her easily before we got there. Instead he...well, he let her go. He walked away from her, knowing she was still alive. He _licked her_, and whispered something to her before walking off with a smile on his disgusting face." Sirius couldn't understand why Greyback would do that. He never let anyone who crossed his path away this easily. Not only was Anna still alive, but Greyback hadn't even bit her.

It was unheard of for him to walk away from a breathing young woman, and not leave her _tainted_ by his claws in more ways than one. The image of him licking Anna, of holding her close to him brought a fierce scowl to Sirius' face, one which the others were happy to ignore for the moment. Calming himself, Sirius took a deep breath before a nasty thought crossed his mind.

Looking up, Sirius caught Remus' wide eyes, both of them thinking about something that neither of them had thought to ask.

"You don't think he raped her, do you?" Tonks' shuddering voice whispered.

"I sure Poppy would have informed us if Anna had gone through such an ordeal. Never the less, we will have to wait until the morning to find out just how Anna managed to escape with her life. I am sure it will be an interesting tale." They all nodded in agreement with the headmaster, Sirius' mind running away with him with what Greyback could have done to Anna.

"The rest of the Auror's were just turning up when I left Dumbledore. Moody's still there, trying to keep a lid on things. I don't think they've realised yet who Caterine Hunter actually was, and as for the girls...well, their already assuming that their dead." Tonks whispered sadly.

"Dumbledore, what's going to happen to them?" Tonks' maternal side was kicking in, something that had become startlingly present since Teddy came into her life.

"I am not sure yet, Nymphadora. They'll spend the night here. It is much too late to move them in their current state, anyhow. We can discuss plans in the morning, when we have more information as to the nature of their parents' murder. For now, I might suggest that everyone gets a good night's rest. Remus, you have classes in the morning, and Nymphadora you looked worked off your feet. Go home to young Teddy; I'm sure you've had quite a day." Dumbledore nodded to Nymphadora, who looked like she was about to argue, until her son's name was mentioned.

"Okay then. I'm sure Mad Eye will be in touch with you later after he's escaped the chaos." Reaching for Remus' hand, the two of them said their goodbye's and exited from the hospital wing, off to spend a night at home before their hectic lives began tomorrow.

"I must go and speak to our two young survivors." Dumbledore looked up at the two young girls, both of them crying heavily into the others arms, Madam Pomfrey with a hand around both of them.

"Did you tell them Dumbledore?" Charlie asked sadly.

"Not yet, Charlie. I fear that they already know. Numbing their pain for a while will only make it worse when they finally feel it. As it is with all children, there is only so long we can keep them in the dark before they start to assume the worst. Unfortunately for these poor young souls, they are likely to assume right." He stayed silent for a few moments, joining Sirius and Charlie in their pitying looks.

"Poppy is planning on administering them with Dreamless Sleep. We will discuss everything in my office tomorrow after breakfast. Sirius, if you would be so kind as to bring Anna tomorrow. I have a feeling she will want to be involved." Sirius couldn't tell if the Dumbledore was amused by this, or put out by it. Either way he was resigned to it.

"Of course Albus." Sirius assured him, before the Headmaster began a solemn trail over to the two weeping children. They're whole lives had turned upside down in the space of a day, by the violence of a world their mother had cut herself off from, to try and protect them. After so many years, her efforts were in vain.

"Sirius, are you coming mate?" Sirius almost didn't hear Charlie speak to him; his attention was so focused on the scene in front of him. Two young children crying and a young woman suffering; all due to Voldemort and his twisted ideals. The story was the same everywhere he looked, for the majority of his life.

"I think I'll stay here tonight. Just in case she wakes up. Madam Pomfrey didn't give her any Dreamless Sleep, and she's already frightened enough as it is." His gaze was settled on Anna, the gentle rise and fall of her chest and the subtle colour returning to her face.

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked him with a strange look.

Sirius didn't exactly know why, but he knew that he wanted to be here.

"Yeah mate. You might let Harry know that everything's alright before you head off, yeah?" Sirius turned his head away, thinking of his godson and how concerned he got when he was left out of the loop.

"No problem mate." Clapping his hand against his shoulder, Charlie left the hospital wing.

Walking quietly behind the drawn curtain Madam Pomfrey had just pulled around Anna's bedside; he transfigured the stiff stool into a comfy armchair and settled himself down.

Rubbing his hands through his hair, he allowed his head to fall back against the soft head rest and closed his eyes for a moment.

A few moments passed, Sirius listening to the quiet sniffling of the two girls behind him, and Dumbledore's soft words of comfort. After a few minutes, the sniffling stopped, and he heard Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey stand up.

He hadn't realised how sore his head was, until the lights in the hospital wing died down, and the noise finally quieted around him. Silence was what his mind needed right now.

"Sirius Black, what do you think you are doing?" As if her job wasn't done until she had every healthy person out of her sight, Madam Pomfrey promptly pulled back Anna's curtain and whispered to him in a furious stage whisper.

"She's just gone through Merlin knows what with Fenrir Greyback, passed out in my arms and broken what seems like a very painful amount of bones. She's got a fever, and if she wakes up out of sorts she's going to be frightened Poppy." Sirius wasn't angry with the strict matron, having been on her bad side many a times before, he always got around her.

The frowning Matron was about to argue back, when Dumbledore placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Perhaps for tonight Poppy, it would not be such a bad idea to have Sirius stay here. I have a feeling that a frightened Anna would not be a good thing for anyone concerned." Contemplating Dumbledore's words for a moment, Madam Pomfrey nodded and took off, putting goblets and potion vials away before she turned in.

Sitting in silence for a few moments, Sirius finally built up the nerve to ask Dumbledore the question that had been weighing on his mind since Anna first turned up yesterday.

"Dumbledore, do you think that Anna is...well..." Not sure how to phrase the question, Sirius was rewarded with Dumbledore's joyous smile.

"If you're asking me if I think you need to continue researching for me Sirius, then the answer is no. My suspicions were confirmed tonight when Fawkes came to her side. I for one did not call for his help. Either someone else called for him" with this, Dumbledore's eyes twinkled over Anna "Or else, he somehow _felt _he was needed."

"Goodnight, Sirius." Sirius muttered a similar goodnight to the headmaster, not taking his eyes off the mysterious girl lying in front of him. He spent the next half hour wondering if she could truly be what they had been searching for, for the past six months.

He had been expecting some sort of magical creature, something along the lines of a centaur. He had expected to be researching dusty books for Merlin know's how many months more, treking through some distant land on the tail end of some sketchy clue. Hell, he had even expected to fight tooth and nail to find someone who potentially had knowledge of ancient magic!

What he hadn't expected, was a fierce, powerful and scarred young Anna to just drop out of the sky! And what was more, she didn't even seem to know what she could do!

Deep in thought, he did not see the smile drop from Albus Dumbledore's face as he walked past the two sleeping girls on the other side of the drawn curtains.

Nor did he feel Madam Pomfrey throwing a blanket across him before she left for her chambers, after mumbling a fond 'goodnight' to him. A few hours later, he had joined the rest of Hogwarts castle in a blissfully ignorant slumber.

Meanwhile, the young woman across from him began to toss fitfully in her bed, a sheen of sweat breaking across her forehead. The horrors of the nightmares she tried so hard to drown in alcohol induced sleep haunting her once more. An recurring image plauged her mind, that of an unending fire, burning and consuming everything and everyone in it's path.

Only this wasn't a nightmare. It was a memory.

Once more, Anna found herself helpless, forced to watch from the sidelines as the malicious fire spread and devoured everything she'd ever known and loved.

* * *

**A.N:** Thanks for reading and (for those especially wonderful people) reviewing :D If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. Any and all time that should be spent studying, is sure to find me lurking around fan fiction somewhere! X


	16. Throwing A Spanner In The Works

_"Hear what Anna?" It was Dumbledore who questioned her, because Sirius found that his voice would not obey his mind. The words stuck in his throat when he watched her beautiful face light up._

_"The singing...it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard."_

From the previous chapter. Hope you guys enjoy this one!

* * *

_Was it a vision, or a waking dream?_  
_Fled is that music:-Do I wake or sleep?_ - **John Keats**

Sirius awoke with a jolt in the still night air of the warm Indian summer. Disorientated for the first few moments, he remained unmoving.

His eyes were still glued together with tiredness; he was still halfway between this world and the world where all minds wander during the silent hours of sleep.

One thing he knew for certain was that the darkness of the night still prevailed. With his grey eyes still closed, he knew that the pitch black of the night was surrounding him. He also knew there was a reason why he was pulled so unceremoniously from his slumber, but amongst the sound of rustling bed sheets and a restless body, he couldn't remember why.

"Da!" The hushed moan across from him permeated his still dull mind. Suddenly Sirius remembered the groans he had heard in his sleep. They called out to him, pulling him from the endless, cloudless blue skies where he roamed free on his bike.

Pushing a covering blanket off him, his eyes remained dry, and even the soft light of the moon was harsh to them. Rubbing the heels of his palms against them to bring some relieving tears, he sat forward and saw the tall thin form in the bed across from him thrashing around underneath the covers that weren't pulled over her earlier.

The moon's silvery glow was shining in through one of the high windows, falling at a slant on one side of her bed.

Anna's face was turned the other way, hidden in the darkness, so that all he could make out was her restless form clutching the white sheet that was pushed down around her fragile waist. Her left leg was thrown over the side of the bed that was almost too wide for her, the toes of her bare feet curled in. Her foot kicked out at him when he leaned forward, colliding with his leg and pushing him back with a surprising amount of strength. The back of his knee's hit the chair, and he flung his arm behind him to land on the head rest, preventing him from falling back into the deep comfortable hollow where he made his bed for the night.

Leaning forward, he moved to hover over her, just as she turned wildly again to face him.

He frowned at the sight of her face; distorted with emotions that should never be worn by someone as beautiful as her. Sculpted brows pulled together and a crease marred the space between them, eyes clenched shut and desperately trying not to see the visions inside of her own mind.

"Anna!" Trying to whisper, Sirius gripped her shoulders softly, giving them a gentle shake as her body arched off the bed once more, trying to throw itself out of the clutches of her nightmare.

The moment his large hands covered her shoulders, her eyes shot open. They were wide, with the same unnatural bright green that possessed them earlier, burning with a glossy sheen and staring right through him again.

This time, there was no mistaking the look in them- terror was screaming out from them. Her hands moved to grip his forearms; her fingernails biting into his skin.

"What are you doing here? You have to leave now!" She pushed herself against the gentle hold he had on her shoulders, raising her torso off the bed and whispering fearfully to him.

Looking at her scared movements, Sirius was seeing an entirely different person than the one he expected to see. Anna's fierce confidence and vibrant charm were gone, replaced by a terrible and heartbreaking vulnerable fear.

This wasn't a girl who would stand up against intimidating wizards and powerful werewolves. This was a girl he needed to hold against his chest, and rock back to sleep as he brushed his large hands through her brown tresses and whispered that everything was going to be alright.

"Anna, calm down, you're safe now." He couldn't stand to see her like this; on the edge of a broken trance. His desperate attempts to assure her were vain. Her head swivelled from side to side, taking in her surroundings but not fully comprehending them in her agitated state.

"No, I'm never safe..." She whispered defiantly, frantically staring off into the distance in resignation.

Reminded of his presence, she squeezed his forearms again and turned back to him with pleading eyes. "You can be though, but please, you have to leave now. Its night time, they always come at night time! Please, I can't watch someone else burn in front of me! Not again." She was so panicked and frightened that Sirius was surprised that she wasn't crying when she begged him in her whimpering voice.

"Anna, look at me." He let go of her shoulders and took her shaking head in his hands, holding her face softly and forcing her to acknowledge him.

"You're dreaming." He stated slowly, watching her wide shining eyes flare with a burst of brightness. He knew it was more than the moon casting a silvery glow on them, something inside her was lighting up, scorching her reason.

Slowly, her breathing slowed and her body stopped pushing against him. He thought she understood what was happening when she sighed, and let go of the 'doe caught in headlights' expression.

Expecting an emptiness to cross her now blank face before she fell back to sleep, he was surprised when a gentle smile caressed her lips. She kept staring at him, still with that funny way she had of looking right through him. All panic was gone now, a state of nirvana engulfing her.

"Of course it's a dream; you wouldn't be here if it weren't." The only word he could find to describe her was content, happily embracing the dream she was partially awoken to.

After watching the terror leave her, he didn't have the heart to wake her and make her relive the horror for a few moments. As gently and slowly as he could, he carefully lowered her back down onto the pillow, his right hand still against her cheek while his left hand held her elbow, guiding her back to her rest.

He watched her for a moment, from her startling bright eyes, to the flaming auburn that wove its paths through her normally rich dark hair.

Satisfied that she was settled down once more, he was about to release his hold on her and pull away. Sensing that his touch was about to leave her, she raised her own hand and rested it against his own, holding it close to her cheek as her face leaned into his palm. She inhaled deeply, a smile tugging at her lips. "You smell different." She whispered, the entire time her burning green eyes never leaving his own.

He stayed still for a while, watching her watch him through glazed eyes. She looked so peaceful, and blissfully unaware of where she was, and whom she was talking to.

"I'm sorry I try and stop myself from seeing you." She whispered guiltily, the way you whisper condolences to someone who has just lost a loved one, and you feel like you're intruder on their grief.

He could do nothing but stare back at her; deeply curious as to whom she thought she was speaking too. He vaguely wondered if she was sleep walking, or if her mind had shut itself down to protect itself from whatever trauma she witnessed during her sleep.

"I know it makes you mad when I drink too much, to keep the nightmares away. But I only ever did it when you weren't around." Sirius' throat constricted when she spoke to the person her mind had convinced her was him.

What fear and pain could possibly plague a woman so young, that her only escape was the diluted sleep that alcohol brought? No wonder she looked so tired, with the feint black rings around her eyes.

She took his silence as him being upset with her, and turned her face further into his touch, trying to justify her actions through a search for comfort. Without thinking, he rubbed the rough pad of his thumb across her cheekbone, roaming her soft skin with his fingers.

Here was this beautiful, broken young woman, believing she was talking to someone she was desperately in love with, and all his sick perverted mind could think about was how perfect a fit her delicate face was into hand!

"But then they changed; still the same as usual, until the end. I knew there was something wrong when I saw you there, but I didn't stop to think. How could I? It was the first time I saw you in them." Whispering softer into his hand, he barely heard her voice above his own quiet breathing.

"I was so scared when I woke up, and found you weren't there beside me. You didn't wake me up as usual...so I Jumped, straight away without even thinking about it. I didn't stop to think why I had the photo of your room beside me. It wasn't until I got there, that I remembered..." She spoke to him like she was telling a bedtime story, her words so soft. She was trying to explain with a detached emotion, trying not to show the sorrow that he knew would soon arrive.

But with every touch of her fragile fingers through his own, he could feel it- feel her longing, her need. The tension was slowly mounting, his body holding itself back from pulling her into his arms. It would surely wake her, and he didn't want to be the cause for her sadness when she realised that it was him she was speaking to.

"It happened a couple of times like that. Your bed was never made when I went there all those nights, and I always just lay down. I waited for you to come back." She spoke with a wistful air, recounting her story like a long forgotten dream. Little did she know, that she was walking along the boundaries of one.

His heart clenched the moment she whispered those words, and he knew now, that he was about to learn something dreadful about Anna's past. Words on their own are harmless; they hold no threats of pain or sorrow. It's only our voices that lend them the means of expression to show us just how much a few simple words can hurt. The one's she had just spoken were the dealbreakers for heartache; _'I waited for you to come back.'_

Few things ever end well after those words are spoken. He knew the fate of the man she was talking to after those words. The loss of him was written all over her, woven through her touch as she caressed the sides of his fingers with the tips of her own.

"It wasn't until I realised that the bed was cold, that I remembered that you were never coming back." Her voice was no more than a breath when she spoke. The silence eclipsed over both him and her, and he could feel it brush past him in one powerful wave, to search out and drown every being in the school.

She may as well have just taken her last breath, for all the pain it caused her to whisper those words. She wallowed in her pain, staring straight through him and speaking to a ghost that didn't walk this world.

"So that's why I had to stop dreaming about you; even the good dreams. Because every time I woke up, and knew you were gone, it felt like you died all over again. Just when I thought it couldn't possibly hurt anymore, it did...it was so much worse. And so I found a way to stop dreaming all together." She didn't have to tell him that finding a way to numb her pain was both her greatest accomplishment, and her worst achievement.

"Anna, it's time to go back now." His voice was on the brink of breaking from the sorrow he felt for her, and he didn't think he could hold her anymore without trembling.

Never in his entire life, could he remember being this careful with someone. She rested in his hands like cracked glass, barely holding together with the light pressure he touched her with. All it would take would be a word whispered too loud, or the release of a shaky breath. She would wake up, and she would break apart, piece by piece in his arms.

Whatever fitful sleep he was sending her back to, it couldn't possibly be worse than that. Nothing could be...

"I know. I don't want to say goodbye though. I have a feeling that this is the last time that I'll see you like this. This is the last time that I can tell you that I love you." Those three last words were spoken as the most obvious thing in the world.

He felt her breath begin to tremble against his skin. When she finally released a shaky breath, the heat captured by his skin formed a steaming covering of water all the way down to his wrist. Those minute droplets of condensation were the only tears she had to offer. They were the tears he was sure she couldn't cry, because she had no more left to give.

"When I saw you in one of_ their_ minds the other day, you didn't look like how I imagined you would. You were...duller, somehow." She was talking so normally, telling someone who was dead that she had seen him the other day.

_'Except, she never said the word 'dead', did she?'_ He had jumped to conclusions, but how could he not have? He had seen the touch of death on other people, and had felt it himself. He had never felt the pain of the death of a lover, but the sorrow her voice held sounded just how he thought it would sound.

"When I'm awake, I'll try and pretend it wasn't you. I'll try and convince myself that it never happened; try and erase it from my memory." Even as she was talking, he could feel her almost willing herself to believe her own words.

_'Why would she try to convince herself that she hadn't seen proof of her loved one's well being?' _

"Please, don't ever let me see you again. Next time, dream or not, I think it might just kill me." Only one, lonely, solitary whimper escaped from behind her lips, her heartbroken, burning green eyes scorching a hole right through his heart with their pleas.

Then, as soon as her fluttering thick eyelashes brushed against her cheek, she drifted away once more, leaving Sirius alone with questions he couldn't answer. One thing he knew for sure was that whatever foolish man abandoned _her,_ this brave, amazing, beautiful young woman, was no man at all.

For a while he remained standing over her, frozen in a state of disbelief at the grief ridden scene he had just witnessed. He couldn't tell how long he just stood and watched, feeling her deep breaths carress his hand, as he guarded the remnants of her broken heart from the nightmares that sought to destroy her.

When the building emotions fought to expel themselves from his body, he exhaled a tired, heavy and shaky breath. He hadn't noticed the moon travel her nightly path across the midnight sky. It was only when it's silvery light was shining fully across Anna, did he notice that her dark velvet hair returned to its natural colour; all tones of fiery auburn retreated away with her grief.

He returned to his chair by her bed, pulling it closer so that he could hold onto her hand that still tucked itself into his own. For the rest of the night, Anna slept like an angel.

He knew that in the morning, she wouldn't remember anything that had transpired during her moments of waking sleep. Just as he knew that this night would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Sirius would never forget the night when Anna finally said goodbye to the man she loved.

* * *

"And she's alright?"

"Well, I think so mate. We're going to have to wait until she wakes up to know for sure. She's a tough girl underneath, I'm sure she'll pull through."

_'Underneath what, jackass?' _Had she been capable of speaking, Anna would have levelled Sirius with a wry glare. However, she just remained in silence and let them continue discussing her while she lay incapacitated on the hospital bed. She desperately missed her egyptian cotton sheets...

"And you're sure it was Greyback?"

Anna was stuck in the first few moments of breaking out from sleep. You know, those moments where you don't exactly know where you are, but at the same time you don't really care?

Well, yeah, that's where she was; having been woken up by Ginny and Ron bickering in the way that only siblings can, she'd been stuck listening to Harry and Hermione bombard Sirius with endless questions about last nights fiasco.

Waking up to Ron's frightened yelp wasn't her ideal approximation of an alarm clock. Her spirits had been brightened by Ginny though, who promptly began scolding her brother for his 'irrational' fear of spiders, and because 'scorpions aren't even spiders anyway.'

"What would say if you saw a big nasty spider, just sitting there on someone's foot?"

"Exactly what I did say, which is nothing, like everybody else, who were smart enough to realize that it's only a bloody tattoo!"

Smirking internally, Anna figured that it must be her own tattoo they were on about. Her scorpion that ran along the outside of her right foot, it's tail curling back and curving around the tip of her ankle bone.

Soon after, Madam Pomfrey had quickly kicked them out when they refused to drop the arguement over what constitutes as 'a spider' and what doesn't.

"Hermione, it's not exactly easy to mistake Greyback. He's got fairly distinctive features." After realising just who they were talking about, Anna found that her few moments of bliss were quickly robbed of her at the memories that name carried with it.

"Yeah, he's got a fairly distinctive _smell_ too." Letting out a loud yawn, she pushed the white sheet down from her body and raised herself up onto her elbows, one of which was apparently bruised. Resting her throbbing back against the fluffy pillows, she pulled a lock of her hair forward and ran it under her nose. Taking a cautious sniff of it, she threw it behind her shoulder like it was on fire and shuddered in disgust.

"Fuck's sake, I smell like road kill. Someone light some incense or something." Waving her hand in front of her face, she held her breath and waited for the smell to pass. It didn't. If just kind of wafted over her, the source of origin presumably being her ripped clothes, any and every inch of exposed skin, and her hair.

Over the dull ache in her limbs and the smell of diseased farm animal engulfing her, it took Anna a few minutes to realise that for some strange reason, her stomach wasn't sore and her head wasn't pounding.

_'Oh my God...I'm not hung over! Miracles really do happen!'_ In her enthusiasm, Anna declared to herself right then and there that nothing was going to take away the joy she felt at that moment.

For the first time in a very long time, she woke up and it didn't hurt to think. The brightness didn't burn her eyes like a doctor's medical torch. Her blessedly light stomach didn't protest against every move she made.

And the best thing of all- she was hungry. _'Oh my God...I'm going to be able to eat breakfast. Like a proper breakfast, with eggs, and sausages! And bacon!' _When her mouth began to water at the mere thought of it, Anna bit her bottom lip in excitement and immediately felt an open cut on the fleshy skin there.

_'No, stop it right there.'_ The fact that she woke up in a hospital bed, smelling like a decomposing wet dog and sporting extremely stiff muscles, could not be allowed to put a downer on this momentous occasion.

"Well, that's what you get for wrestling with a werewolf!" She smiled joyfully at Hermione's mocking laughter, still basking in her own wonderful moment. It wasn't long before Hermione flicked her wand in her direction, and Anna sighed as the most glorious sensation rolled over her.

It was like stepping through a waterfall, or dipping into a hot spring in the Alps, or-

"Wait a minute, I'm sorry; it's just that I could have sworn you said the word 'werewolf'?" Anna wasn't sorry at all, having had heard exactly what Hermione had said.

It just seemed like a natural reaction to question the insertion of the word 'werewolf' into a serious conversation. She was finding it hard to believe that Hermione wasn't joking; although she supposed she shouldn't really be. After two days here, she really shouldn't be susceptible to surprises anymore...

"Well..." Hermione hesitantly glanced between Harry and Sirius with wary eyes, the latter of whom was staring back at Hermione with wide eyes, trying ( and failing) to inconspicuously shake his head. Fortunately, Hermione made the wise decision to crumble under Anna's expectant glare, rather than take heed of Sirius' warning's.

"He was in his human form, but the full moon is tomorrow night you see, so he would have been quite a bit stronger than he usually is. And from what I've seen, Greyback is a very large man..." Hermione trailed off when Anna didn't speak back to her.

If the morning hadn't started out so well, Anna would have been furious. She would have been growling and cursing at the fact that she had decided to fight him man to man, in a manner of speaking. She would have leapt out of bed and armed herself with nothing but a machete, found the prick and Jumped around him in circles, until eventually she managed to cut every one of his clawed fingers off. Then she would have moved on to other part's of his anatomy.

However, rare things _do_ occur in her life from time to time, and the morning had started out brilliantly. So instead of flipping the lid, Anna allowed a wide beam to cross her face.

"That sneaky bastard! I knew there was no way someone that big could move that fast!" There was a vast list of things in life that made Anna smile, with things being added and subtracted on a daily basis. For example, as of Saturday night, Firewhiskey had become an honourary addition to her list. In the top twenty things that made her smile, 'being right' would be up there nestled somewhere between 'skinny dipping in Viti Lake (that's in Iceland)' and 'Spending March in India' (during The Holi festival).

"So, how'd I end up here anyway? The last thing I remember is watching that _creature..._" Anna broke off with a shudder, remembering the words he croaked into her ear, and the way his disgusting scabbed hands held her against him.

_'I'll find you again soon.' _He said to her; promised her actually. _'Not if I find him first.' _Anna was about to embark on yet another personal vendetta. Right after she got some breakfast...

"You hit your head pretty hard when you fell, and by the time we got to you, you were pretty out of it. You were drifting in and out of consciousness when we got you here." Sirius' eyes steel grey eyes were soft, but hard around the edges. His gaze was intent on her, but concerned at the same time. He wasn't necessarily meeting her eyes, and that's how she knew that he was hiding something from her.

She didn't have time to call him out on it before her stomach abruptly dropped.

"Where are the girls?" Turning from left to right and looking over all the empty beds, an intense feeling of panic washed over her. Surely they wouldn't have left the girls at home?

"It's alright, their safe." Sirius leaned forward and held onto her elbow, capturing her attention. Once she knew that he had any form of information about them, her eyes and ears were all his.

"Hogwarts wasn't really the best place for them this morning. Naturally, the poor things were very upset, so Dumbledore brought them to The Burrow; that's the Weasley's home. Molly Weasley will be taking good care of Amathea and Agrafina, until a more...permanent solution is found." Feeling her heart rate decrease at the sound of Sirius' sure words, Anna relaxed for a few moments.

Her tight feeling of panic quickly turned to a horrible weight of grief for Fina and Thea, all alone now with just each other. And her, after she runs her plan past Dumbledore.

_'They must have been so scared..._' A hundred questions raced through her mind.

Who told them about their parents? How did they break it to them? Were they gentle about it? Did they keep pestering them about it? How did the girls react? Were they quiet for a while, or were the tears endless from the start?

Her mind didn't slow down for a while later. She was used to taking care of people, and now that the girls were out of her hands for the moment, she desperately wanted some way to see them.

"Which reminds me; breakfast will be ready in half an hour, and Dumbledore's holding a meeting in his office after, to discuss what happened last night and to see what's going to be done about the girls. I'm assuming you want to go?" Anna stared at the half smile on Sirius' face, and watched his grey eyes smiling over at her.

Her breath caught in her throat for a moment; there was something about them that was so intriguing. Looking into his mercury orbs was like looking into the mist of an oncoming storm; peaceful for the moment, but you knew that lightening could strike any second. There was something, _exciting_ about them.

_'The full works waiting for me downstairs, and all that's standing in my way is a few flights of stairs...presuming I can stand.' _The thought quickly turned sour when she remembered just what had happened yesterday evening.

Vague as the aftermath might be, she definitely remembered what she went through to land her in the state that Sirius had found her in.

Whatever about claw marks,scrapes and bruises, she distinctly remembered feeling a rib floating under her palm, and she knew beyond a doubt that her ankle had broke- again. Instinctively Anna stopped moving and held her breath.

Shutting her eyes closed in anticipation; she hesitantly ran her scratched hand across her rib cage- and found that everything was perfectly fine. She was hardly even bruised!

Taking a deep breath, she looked around at the sly smiles on the faces of Sirius, Hermione and Harry.

"I don't want to alarm anyone, but-" Raising her knee's up to her chest, revelling in the feeling of bare skin (rather than plaster of paris), Anna looked at them all individually and whispered conspiratorially "I think I might be invincible."

With that, she laughed wildly to herself and jumped out of the bed, hopping from foot to foot and delighting in the feeling of her newly healed ankle. She gasped when she found out it didn't creak anymore.

"Oh, so you've woken up have you?" Madam Pomfrey was striding over, glaring at Anna as if her eyes alone had the power to push Anna back into the bed. Despite this, Anna couldn't contain herself at the sight of the woman who had repaired her much needed limb. She ran straight for the stern woman and wrapped her arms around the woman's shoulders.

Standing in her bare feet and still a foot taller than Madam Pomfrey, Anna somehow still managed to hang out of the woman the way a cub hangs out of its mother. For a split second, Madam Pomfrey went rigidly still, before reached around and patting Anna on the back awkwardly.

"I can't believe you fixed it!" Anna gave the woman one last squeeze, and pulled back to assault the woman with a huge smile. Her lithe feet pitter pattered across the cold floor as she stood on the balls of her feet and started a series of piroutte's on her right foot. It was the first time she had been able to put that much stress on her right foot in years.

"Ha ha, this is brilliant!" Twirling back over to everyone, Anna turned on the spot once more before sitting back down on the edge of the bed. She lifted both feet off the ground and began stretching her right ankle from side to side, pulling her toes towards her and pushing them away from her, marvelling in the fluid movement of it.

"Do you hear that?" She beamed brightly at Madam Pomfrey. A hint of a smile was tugging at the corners of the matrons lips, until she heard Anna's question.

"Hear what?" Frowning, she began walking towards Anna and reached for her foot.

"Nothing! It doesn't make a sound!" A burst of joy expoding from her once more, Anna jumped into Madam Pomfrey's oustretched hands instead of letting the matron take hold of her foot.

"Yes well, we'll have to do a few tests, just to make sure." Smiling to herself like the cat that got the cream, Madam Pomfrey pulled a chair over and sat down.

She held Anna's foot on her lap and pulled at each of her toes, rubbing along the muscles underneath and stretching it in the same way Anna had only moments before. Finally, she seemed satisfied that everything was as it should be.

"Now then, Anna, you're free to go. A word of caution though, before you leave. Do take care not to land yourself back here tomorrow, for the _third day in a row_." Staring sternly at Anna, she stood up off the chair and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Or else you'll start giving Mr. Potter here a run for his money." Staring at Harry with a raised eyebrow, Madam Pomfrey gave Anna's shoulder one last squeeze before bustling off in the other direction, humming gaily to herself as she bustled around straightening bed sheets and fluffing pillows.

Just as they were leaving, Anna found the most beautiful red and gold feather partially hidden beneath the pillow on her bed. With the others moving steadily ahead of her, she picked it up and noted that it was identical to the one she saw yesterday, floating in the lake above her. Not sure that it was a subject that should be brought up just yet, what with the mysterious 'pull' she associated with it, she tucked it carefully away in her pocket.

Caught up as she was with Sirius' stories of the enchanted castle on the way to their rooms, her mind quickly drifted from thoughts about what sort of mystical bird it could have belonged to.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, after a much needed a shower and change of clothing, Anna sauntered into the Hogwarts Hall just as breakfast was being served.

"I fail to see the difference between that, and the Hogwarts staircases?" Anna had just explained the concept of escalators to Sirius. Not as easy a task as she had anticipated.

"The entire fucking staircase moves whenever it takes the notion! With escalators, it's only the steps that move." The silence that met her exasperated comment assured her that Sirius was just not going to get it.

"Muggle inventions amaze me sometimes." After pondering escalators for a few seconds, Sirius just shook his head and released the tension in his forehead.

"Yeah, well they amaze me too, and I am a _muggle._ All I'm saying is that at least with escalators, you know where you stand." Shrugging her shoulders at the final point she was going to make on the subject, she turned to see Sirius staring at her with a raised eyebrow and crooked grin.

She was extremely jealous of his ability to look at her like that. She had never managed to perfect how to move each eyebrow individually, and the consequences of that were being rubbed in her face now while he mocked her for her choice of words.

"Oh you know what I mean. You don't find yourself at A and having to take an entire detour through half the alphabet, just to get to B." Fair enough it was a round about analogy, but it made perfectly logical sense in her mind.

"You're very amusing Anna, do you know that?" She couldn't help but notice how his gun metal grey eyes were dancing with mirth. She might just let him tease her all the way through breakfast if he kept staring at her like that.

"Whatever. All I know is that moving staircases are a bad idea for a school. The possibilities are endless for students who decide to turn up late for class. They'd have a field day if one of them ever broke down!" She threw her arms up and gestured to all the students who were once again staring at her; this strange girl who wasn't magic, and yet still remained in a wizarding school.

"Don't tell me you wouldn't avail of that opportunity if it ever came your way while you were still at school?" The harmless bantering between them was quickly heading towards uncomfortable topics, and she found herself smiling nervously at him, not wanting to make him feel awkward.

"I don't know, probably." Non- committal answers always worked better than evasive one's.

"Something tells me that you caused enough mischief back in your own school days anyway, love." The conversation was flowing so easily between the two of them, and she was doing everything she could to avoid ruining it.

Not that she was ashamed of the fact that her experience with school's didn't extend beyond the one's where you learned the difference between 'to' 'two' and 'too'. It was a deep regret she had, although it was something she couldn't have helped. Attending school's didn't really work out too well when you spent your life Jumping from one continent to the next every so often.

Beside's, she had experienced and learned so much that other people never would get the chance to, and she was so glad for that opportunity. It's just most people don't know how to respond when they learn about how she never attended secondary school, and she hated how they treated her as if she was stupid afterwards. She was actually extremely bright, if she did say so herself.

"I've a feeling I could say the same thing about you." It would have been hard to miss the way his chest swelled with pride at her words.

While he was proudly beaming with self satisfaction, he threw a nod and a wink up to Remus at the teachers table. The man slowly became wary at the look on Sirius' face, and started to fidget in his seat, examining his surroundings suspiciously. Remus' reaction brought on another round of barking laughter from Sirius.

"We do have one advantage over escalators though." Nonchalantly, he threw a well muscled arm across her shoulders, and began guiding her towards the table that Harry was waving them over to. She found herself lost for a few moments in his melted, metal grey eyes and was listening eagerly for the nonsense he was sure to spout.

He pulled her in closer and whispered in her ear "Magic doesn't break down, love."

Basking as she was in his rumbling laughter, and the feeling of his strong biscep rubbing against her arm, she was well aware of the glares that were now burning into her back as he led her toward the Gryffindor table.

The looks of admiration from earlier were obviously coming from the male population of the students, no matter what age they were. As usual, people saw a pretty face, which was lucky in the cases with most men. Whenever they got the chance to delve a minute way past the surface, they didn't always welcome the strong presence that was Anna.

The envious glares however were coming from the male students' female counterparts, and not only the one's that weren't much younger than herself.

In fact, she thought she saw a young girl of no more than sixteen welling up with tears at the far side of the hall. She couldn't find herself being mad at the green eyed monsters though; their looks of contempt were highly justified in her book.

_'I mean, here I am, strutting around their school in gorgeous form fitting, camel combats fresh off the runway, along with a fabulous rustic flowing tank top; while their stuck in those drab grey uniforms and inexcusable footwear.' _

One experience she was glad to have missed out on was that of wearing school shoes. In her very limited contact with students, she had yet to see a girl wearing leather shoes that both looked good and were acceptable by school rules. Why some people never learned how to dress was beyond her. Of course, she did have the major advantage of having numerous large bank accounts, and friends in fashionable places.

She also may have conceded to the fact that the jealous looks might have something to do with the magnificent specimen that had an arm thrown casually around her. She'd been around the world a couple of times, and therefore was confident in her judgement that God had almost outdone himself with the work of art that was Sirius Black.

The man was blessed with fabulous raven black locks, a face like something straight out of a Greek tragedy, and an arse to die for. Yes, she had checked out his rear end more than once this morning. When you meet a man that actually knows how to wear jeans, you can't just let an opportunity like that pass you by.

Her stomach was full of butterflies in anticipation of the food she was about to eat. She had thrown caution to the wind many times before, and given into her want for a fry up while still suffering with a hangover. There are only so many times you can say _'_this is the last time', before eventually choosing between the toilet bowl, and the thing that put you there.

However, her joy was put on hold for a moment when she sat in front of her empty plate and noticed the curiosity written all over Harry and Hermione's faces. She could almost see the questions on the tips of their tongues regarding last night's mishap.

Needless to say, she threw a spanner in those works immediately.

"For the first time in a _very long_ time, I am going to eat breakfast; a real breakfast. Not some shitty little croissant from a wannabe French bakery on a street corner. You cannot begin to imagine how much I'm looking forward to eating eggs, and sausages and rashers at eight o clock in the morning." While giving pointed looks to everyone surrounding her on the table, Anna found she had to stop when she saw the comical sympathetic look on Ron's face.

"You can ask me anything you like, anything at all. But if I hear one word regarding a certain person with atrocious hygiene and flea infested fur while I'm eating, the person who uttered that name is going to make tonight's dinner menu." Judging by the looks on their faces, Anna knew they weren't sure whether or not to take her seriously.

By the time all the glorious food appeared in front of her and was quickly piled high on top of her plate, the general consensus of the group regarding Anna seemed to be 'don't speak unless spoken to.' It was a silent breakfast for her, and she savoured every last tasty morsel of it.

"Can we ask you about last night yet then?" Harry had been shifting restlessly in his seat for the past few minutes, watching Anna push the food around on her plate while she let her stomach get to work on digesting it.

"I don't know. That French toast is looking pretty tempting." Anna had been staring at it longingly for the past four minutes, becoming increasingly aware of the fact that her eyes had been far too big for her far too small belly. Sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing.

"How are you not full already? I know Ronald is a bottomless pit, but you've eaten more than he does on a pre-Quidditch stomach." Contrary to Harry, Ginny had been staring at Anna for the past while and was in borderline awe of her eating capacity.

"I'm going to go ahead, and ignore whatever the fuck 'Quidditch' is, so that I can remind everyone that I haven't eaten since Saturday night. It's now Monday morning, and I spent the better part of last night grappling with a rabid beast that should have been put down years ago."

Anna was purely joking with Ginny when she addressed her with an angry tone, and gladly the girl realised that Anna wasn't in the least bit serious- about her anger that is.

"But never mind, my appetite is ruined now anyway. I'm contemplating running back up to Madam P and asking her if she checked me over for ticks and fleas. My skin starts crawling every time I think about that freak."After the shiver ran down Anna's spine at the memory of his rough tongue against her skin, the entire group pushed away their plates in disgusted unison.

"I'm considering admitting myself into quarantine. It wouldn't surprise me if his fleas were fucking diseased. No doubt I've gotten typhoid, or typhus, or whatever it's called. Actually, scratch that, I've probably caught both off him. Thank God leprosy isn't contagious." On finishing her rant, she dramatically threw her face in her hands and peeked out from between her fingers at the plate of leftovers in front of her.

She'd been so absorbed in her own moaning, the she failed to notice that the group were in stitches laughing at her.

"Sound, go ahead and laugh now, but just remember that some diseases are air borne. If I'm going down six feet under for this, I'm taking every one of you with me." When Harry was wiping the final tear from his eye, she finally let her smile break across her face.

She hadn't noticed it until yet, but Anna was actually spending her morning in the company of other people, and was enjoying it.

This day was a whole host of revelations for her; waking up without a hangover, being in the company of people who weren't threatening her life, or doing something else to annoy her. She knew that among ordinary people (that is, those people who's lives followed any sort of schedule or routine), Monday mornings were not generally welcomed with open arms.

She was finding them to be quite enjoyable.

"On a serious note though Anna, what exactly happened in that barn between you and Fenrir Greyback?" Anna knew that Hermione had been holding this question in for a long time. She watched the girl almost chew a hole through the side of her mouth as she scooped another load of scrambled egg onto her plate earlier.

Knowing how badly Hermione wanted to know the answer to this question, Anna couldn't help but completely ignore it in favour of letting her jaw drop to the table.

"His name is _Fenrir_. Christ, no wonder he's so fucked up. I mean, I almost feel sorry for the fella'; he never had a chance, did he_? Fenrir Greyback_." She repeated his name again in disbelief, more to herself than anyone else.

"Why do parents give their children such stupid names? Is it any wonder he's so fucked up? You know, the twisted fuck that he is, I bet he went and purposely got himself bitten by a bloody werewolf, just so that he could exact his revenge on everyone who teased him as a child!" The table were staring at Anna again in amusement, with Ginny biting her lip to try and hold in her increasingly widening smile.

Anna was fully aware that her concentration levels were abysmal, and completely failed to notice that she had totally taken a fast track off the subject of last night's escapade.

"You're talking about stupid names? Hello, I'm Hermione!"

"Do you really want to go there, love?" Sirius rebuked to her from his place beside Anna.

"Okay, hold on a second. You're named after a whole host of classical characters, not the least of whom happens to be the daughter of Helen of Troy. You know, the 'most beautiful woman ever'. Besides, Hermione is a cool name." Nodding her head at Hermione, Anna rounded on her next victim.

"As for you, you're named after the brightest star in the sky. Big shoes to fill, but I'm sure you're ego is up for the challenge." Just as she poked him in the ribs with her elbow, Anna heard the strangest noise.

The faintest sounds of rustling wings could be heard over the diminishing scrapes of cutlery. As the sound grew closer and closer, she looked up at the ceiling above her (which Sirius had ensured her was genuinely just magic, and not a hall with a missing roof), expecting a horde of birds to descend on her from the clear azure sky it was mirroring this morning.

Instead, she watched the owl's just fly in through the windows.

"Oh my God." She whispered in shock, and watched with wide eyes and a huge smile as the magnificent birds began to glide down over the tables, dropping parcels and letters at different intervals.

She continued to stare in amazement as a great snowy owl landed on the table in front of her in a rush of white wings. It came to a stop in front of Harry, who lifted a crumb to the majestic bird and rubbed a few fingers through its feathers.

Anna was laughing to herself when she saw another bird land in front of Hermione, and dropped a newspaper onto the girls lap. Hermione quickly placed strange brown some coins into the pouch tied around the birds leg, and let it sip from her cup.

_'They gave the birds fucking purses and taught them how to deliver the post!'_ Anna vaguely noticed that people in the Hall were staring at her again, including Sirius, whose gentle grin she was completely ignoring in favour of the owls that were circling above her. How did nobody else find this amazingly hilarious?

Bringing her wide eyes back down to the table, her heart felt light when Harry turned to stare at her, and the snowy owl followed suit, turning its big, beautiful amber eyes to her. The owl held her gaze, keenly considering before rustling its wings a bit and waddling elegantly over to her, its head cocked to the side.

She brought her tattooed fingers down and gently brushed them through the feathers at the top of the bird's head, in awe of how tame the animal was.

"I think Hedwig's taken a liking to you Anna." Harry smiled over at her, apparently surprised by the bird's reaction.

"I think Hedwig is wonderful." Anna whispered to the bird, after smiling at Harry for a moment. Brushing her fingers through the bird's cotton-wool like feathers once more, Anna placed her arm on the table and smiled ecsatically as Hedwig quickly latched her claws onto the skin of her tanned forearm.

"Oh, careful Hedwig." Harry chastised, reaching forward to poke at his bird.

"No, it's alright." Anna had already risen off the seat to prevent Harry from disturbing the content bird. She noticed with regret that she had forgotten what it felt like to have a bird sink its talon's into her skin.

She was delighted to find out that the flesh on her arm was still tough enough to withstand the sharpness of Hedwig's talons though, even after all these years.

Without disturbing Hedwig, Anna held her arm still and reached down to grab a slice of bread off the table. She passed it to her right hand and held it still so that she could rip little pieces off to feed to the snowy owl. After a few crumbs, Anna began to attract the attention of a few more hungry birds.

Taking Hedwig's gentle 'hoot' as a thank you, and a hint that the owl wanted to be on her way, Anna's swiftly threw her arm up into the air and gave Hedwig a helping hand to spread her wings. The only sounds she could hear at this stage were the 'hoots' of the four or so owls flying around her in a circle, and her own echoing laughter.

She ripped the bread into more pieces, and threw the crumbs up in the air, watching in joy as the owls quickly devoured them. She had forgotten how beautiful it was to watch birds fly like that, from so close up. The way their strong wings spread out like stiff, yet graceful oars at their sides, to row them through the endless oceans of air.

Her new feathered friends abruptly made themselves scarce when a rather disgruntled looking eagle owl made its presence known. Afraid for the fate of the other birds, Anna held her arm up higher to attract the larger bird's attention.

It even flew down to her arrogantly, but she couldn't help but love it all the more for it. The biggest owl in the skies this side of Europe wasn't used to sharing its territory, even amongst it colleagues in the postal system.

"No need to be so aggressive, there's plenty to go around for everyone." She laughed again when it flicked its head towards her expectantly and nibbled at the bread she held in her hands. Apparently, he was too lazy to fight for the food like all the rest. He quickly cut out the middle man, and went straight to the source, avoiding the scraps along the way.

"A bird after my own heart. And you're beautiful too." She laughed at it as she stroked the large feathers that rose over its eyes, like huge slanting eyebrows.

"Thank you. I picked it out myself." A drawling voice to her right grabbed her attention, and Anna turned to see an aristocratic ice blonde boy staring at her arrogantly, all the while holding a suggestive smile in his ice blue eyes.

Had she met him under different circumstances, she might have actually responded to the subtle advances he was no doubt building up to. Alas, knowing that he was no more than seventeen, and walking around a school with a cane instantly ruined him in her eyes.

"I'm sure you did." Anna said, staring at him confusion, not having the faintest idea what he was talking about. She gave the black haired girl beside him a once over, and scoffed at how she was hanging out of the boys arm, staring at him in what could only be described as worship. Somehow, the daft bint was completely oblivious to 'fuck me' eyes he was trying out on Anna.

"But I was actually talking about the bird." Apparently, it hadn't taken much to break the black haired girl out of her trance. The dolt turned her pug like face towards her in contempt immediately.

Laughter erupted on all sides of Anna, and a fair ways down the hall. She paid no attention to either of the reactions her comment had drawn out, and went back to innocently rubbing the bird's feathers as if nothing had happened.

She knew it was a harsh comment, but felt it was justified by the pathetic devotion the girl was lavishing on her ignorant _boyfriend_.

The poor thing was in desperate need of a wake-up call, but Anna just couldn't take her seriously like that; the well bred aristocrat was practically holding her at arm's length. In fact, it was likely that he had raised his arm as a barrier to protect himself from her onslaught of worship, and she had misread his actions.

Stupid girls annoyed Anna to no end; especially the ones who fawned over boys that were obviously using them for one thing. Anna never made assumptions about people she didn't know. She had enough fucking scars to prove why you shouldn't 'judge a book by its cover', and was not keen to get any more for the sake of a hasty judgement.

In the case of this one however, she was willing to make an exception. Based on her entire too potent perfume, the wanna be chic hairstyle,and the sneer on her face that only comes that naturally with years of practice, the girl was firmly placed under the stereotype of 'daddy's little brat.'

Before the girl could get a word in edgeways, the boy at her side was smirking and speaking over her. What further annoyed Anna was the fact that the girl actually let him. While everyone was still laughing at her, she threw her chin up in the air and stalked off, muttering something about '_stupid muggles.'_

_'I'll sort that one out later.' _Anna thought, not in the mood for letting any further interruptions take her attention away from this moment. She missed spending time around animals like this.

"You must have misunderstood me; I was talking about my owl. He doesn't go out of his way to socialise with people. Not unless someone catches his eye. He's a bit like me in that way."

The potential to take the piss out of the boy were growing by the second, and the means to do so were juggling from his cane, his voice, his arrogant air and the fact that the only way he could have gotten his hair slicked back like that was by dipping it in a deep fat fryer.

"What's his name?" Wondering how long she'd be here, Anna decided to hold off a bit on making fun of him. You never know when you might need a laugh, and if by some twist of fate she managed to run in to him and his girlfriend together, the hours of enjoyment she could get were endless.

"Narcissus."

Silence.

_'No, can't hold out 'till later.' _Trying to keep her laughter back after the last straw that was naming his bird 'Narcissus', Anna let him move closer to her and pet his bird proudly. At this distance, she could get a good look at this character's face; it was a pitty he was such a dousche, because he was rather handsome for a young boy. His fair complexion wasn't marred by acne scars or oily skin, leading her to assume that he was one of the lucky one's who fared well through puberty.

Such a shame about the attitude.

"No Narcissus, this time I actually was talking about the bird." She laughed at him innocently, wondering if he'd buy it or not.

"My name is Draco. Draco Malfoy. I know you haven't been here long, but spend enough time in our world and you'll learn that it pays to be on..._friendly_ terms with me." He held out his right hand to Anna, which she clearly couldn't take because of the beauty that was still resting on her right arm. A beauty that she wasn't to keen to say goodbye to, just for the sake of shaking his hand.

Letting out a 'hoot' of indignation at his owners awkwardness, Narcissus gave a light peck to Anna's finger and took off towards the sky.

"Draco darlin', whatever you do in your spare time is fine with me. But do I honestly look like the kind of girl who takes payment to me on _terms_ with anyone?" While smiling a cheeky smile, she managed to stare disdainfully down at his still outstretched corpse like hand.

_'What is with some people and sunlight?' _

"Anna." She informed him, reaching out to meet his pale hand with her own tanned one (well, she didn't want to be rude), noticing how wildly they contrasted; him pale and fair, while she was tanned and tattooed. Him holding her hand made her look quite exotic.

To her great amusement and growing shock, he seductively turned it upwards and pulled it carefully to his well sculpted lips, placing a chaste kiss on her knuckles. Too much in shock to actually release her internal laughter, she watched on in silence when he raised his ice blue eyes to look at her once more. It was getting harder to keep up the placid charade, what with the none too concealed sniggering going on behind her shoulder.

"Well, when you get tired of the Gryffindor's and decide you're in need of some form of civilised company, come and pay me a visit." Somewhere across from her (most likely from Ron), Anna vaguely registered an irritated muttering, but didn't have the brain capacity to acknowledge it. Her mind was cracking up with the boy in front of her.

With a smirk and a wink, he strutted off towards the doors and left Anna standing there, still as a statue and looking after him in disbelief, while she asked herself the question 'Did that just happen?'

She slowly turned around to face her breakfast partners and noticed Harry and Ron's scornful eyes follow the aristocrat out of the hall. Meanwhile, she quietly lowered herself back into her seat and found she couldn't pay attention to anything, because she was replaying that entire hilarious scene in her head.

"Okay, so his name is Draco Malfoy, he has an owl that he confesses' to naming 'Narcissus', openly flirts with a tone of voice that is far too old for him, has his peroxide ridden head far too far up his own arse, and walks around with a cane." Looking around hopefully at each of their disgruntled faces to see if they could contribute anything further, Anna finally let out a roar of laughter.

"You couldn't make it up, could you?" Only just beginning to calm down, Anna looked down at her right hand and began howling with laughter again.

"I'm glad to see that at least someone finds some amusement out of the spawn of the Devil." Hermione apparently couldn't bring herself to laugh at Draco Malfoy, yet seemed to take some pleasure in the fact that Anna could.

"Oh Hermione, trust me, that boy is not the spawn of the Devil. He's certainly a character though; I still can't believe I got chatted up by someone who carries around a cane! I thought I'd met some dickheads in my day, but _that_ is a first!" She finally wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked around to see that quite a few other people were joining her in the amusement, albeit not as enthusiastically as she was.

"He took that fairly well though, didn't he? I mean, you openly insulted him at least three times but he still persisted. I thought that even Malfoy's ego couldn't handle that many blows in one sitting without retribution." Ginny snorted from beside her.

"Judging by that lingering glance he threw before he left, I'd say that's not the last poor Anna's going to hear from young Draco." Listening to Sirius' annoyed grumblings, Anna turned and looked at him incredulously.

"God, I hope it's not." They all looked at her with wide eyes and gaping jaws.

"Please don't tell me you actually like Malfoy Anna?" Ron's eyes were blatantly fearful of her answer. She stared around them in shock, taking in Ginny and Hermione's looks of intense disappointment, Harry's incredulity and Sirius' confusion.

"Like the boy? I fuckin' love him! How could anyone not love that? Not only is he completely oblivious to insults; the list of his hilarious traits apparently get's longer by the second! And his ego seems so large, that I'm fairly certain I could destroy him with abuse for at least two hours before it got boring. Actually, no situation could ever be boring with him around." Thankfully, everyone seemed to cop on to the fact that Anna thought that Draco Malfoy was a prat.

"Irritated, maybe; disgusted, definitely! But never bored." She finalised with a nod of her head, and was happy to see that Harry was once again smiling at her, and Ginny gestured to Hermione with wiping mock sweat of her eyebrow.

"I thought we lost you to the dark side there love." Sirius chuckled a sigh of relief and patted her shoulder gently. He too seemed relieved that her interest in Draco Malfoy was purely wicked.

"Don't be so ridiculous. I was lost to the dark side long before I met any of you." She patted him consolingly on the shoulder and smiled at his quiet laughter.

"Well, I'd best be off. Finally, a decent Monday morning this year! DADA with the Ravenclaws." Ginny hoisted her bag off the floor and soon, the others followed suit.

"Ugh! Double Potions! Are they trying push us to the brink of insanity this year?" Ron cried out to anyone that would listen; mainly Harry and Hermione, who seemed to be feeling his pain.

"I'll see you two later then; maybe we could finish this conversation about Greyback?" At the mention of that name again, Anna started laughing and growling simultaneously. Waving Harry off was the only answer she could get out.

While the students made their way out of the hall, she turned back around to Sirius, who moved to straddle the bench so that he could face her properly.

"Now I know I promised you a grand tour today pet, but there's no need to worry just yet. I swear to give you the deluxe version, after we meet with Dumbledore." Smiling at her in encouragement, his storm grey eyes sparkling at her, Anna could almost feel her senses melt.

"It depends, what does the deluxe version involve?" After the two of them got up from the benches and followed the straggling students out of the hall, Anna noticed that a few of them were openly smiling at her in admiration, and not averting their eyes from her.

When she smiled back at them, she realised that it was only the students who wore yellow, blue and red colours with their uniforms. Those with the green just glanced over her for a moment before striding past.

"Well?" When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Anna stopped and looked expectantly up at Sirius, tapping her sandal clad foot against the marble floor.

A cheeky grin settled across his handsome face, and his eyes danced with mischief.

"How does this sound? Not only will I impart _my own _secret knowledge of hidden passageways, but I'll also make sure you avoid every trick step and doorway. I've also got some pull with one of the teachers, and may be able to get you a seat in a Defence against the Dark Arts class? And of course the cherry on top- a roof top lunch, prepared by yours truly." Bowing down in front of her, he grinned expectantly at her from behind a curtain of shining ebony locks.

"Oh Sirius...how could a girl say no to that?" She wasn't referring to the 'deluxe tour'.

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Don't think there was anything I was supposed to mention, but as usual, any questions don't be afraid to ask!

And don't be shy; drop off a review :D


	17. Beastly Warnings

**AN: **You have no idea how much I've been struggling with writing this bloody chapter! However, now that it's finally done and I've soldiered through my spell of writers block, I hope to update a lot more frequently than I have been!

**Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter**- the fictional lead character in the popular BBC sitcom 'Only Fools and Horses'. Best described as a man who _'could smell a fiver in a force 9 gale. They used to say that if Del Boy fell into a Viper's Pit, he'd come up wearing snake skin shoes_.' If anyone out there has never seen an episode of Only Fools and Horses, I'd seriously recommend watching- you'll never laugh as much in your life.

* * *

_Fear created the first gods in the world - _Caecilius Statius

"Wait." At the sound of Anna's breathless voice, Sirius came to an abrupt halt in front of the stone gargoyle guarding the steps to Dumbledore's Office.

He looked down at her delicate hand gently gripping his elbow, preventing him from continuing any further on the path towards their destination. Curiosity getting the better of him as usual, he turned around to find Anna's mesmerised eyes surveying the moving portraits and twitching suits of armour in the corridor once more.

Mischief hid behind her beaming smile when she turned her gaze back to him, and he couldn't help throwing her a smirk when she bit her full, soft pink lip sheepishly.

"I wanted to get the most out of this place, while I'm still in a good mood. Situations have a habit of spiralling out of control where I'm involved. I usually try to avoid imagining the future at all costs, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Today's one of those days where I have a feeling that things aren't going to go according to plan." Anna scoffed and shook her head in dismay, dropping her humourless gaze to the floor.

In a matter of milliseconds, her body stilled and she slowly lifted her head to face him with a wary look. Her eyes searched so deeply into his that he could almost feel himself melt into her forest green orbs, while he just stood there, unmoving and wondering what could possibly be going through her head.

"Anna, what's wrong?" He asked her softly, trying to ignore the suspicious way she looked down at his right hand. Following her gaze, he flexed his empty wand hand and turned it palm up for her to inspect.

"I'm not sure why I told you that." She returned her gaze to his face with a puzzled expression, before shaking her head and slipping past him carefully to begin her ascent on the stairs that had just revealed themselves. Following her lead without thinking about it, Sirius tried to make heads or tails of what had just occurred. He soon gave up in favour of watching her sway up the cold stone steps, and just decided to add it to the growing list of 'odd' things that generally seemed to occur in her presence.

Upon stepping into the Headmasters Office, Sirius got the feeling that Anna's behavioural quirks weren't a matter that should be sitting atop of his list of things to think about right now. Dumbledore's Office was a flurry of movement, with more people arriving through the fireplace in a rush of green flames just as he and Anna stepped through the ancient wooden doors.

Dumbledore himself could be spotted immediately, exuding a calm aura in his midnight blue robes sitting behind his desk. His fingers were once again steepled in front of him, indicating his signature thinking pose. When his blue eyes fell on Anna, the twinkle in them sparkled momentarily while he offered her a warm, welcoming smile.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was just emerging from the fireplace and was quickly followed by Emmeline Vance, who followed the prestigious Auror over to speak to Dumbledore. The look on Emmeline's face was not one that inspired a feeling of reassurance in Sirius while he watched her sink into a chair beside Dumbledore's desk. Emmeline was pale this morning, with black rings circling her puffy eyes making her look washed out. His only guess was that she must have been out with the Auror's until all hours last night, searching in vain for the children that she knew they wouldn't find.

Turning away, he nodded at Bill, Charlie and Arthur Weasley in greeting. Looking at the three fairly tall Weasley men, it didn't come as any real shock to Sirius when he found that he hadn't noticed Mundungus Fletcher's presence in the room. The harmless criminal bustled over to greet Anna on his squat legs, his numerous golden rings glistening on his chubby little fingers.

_'Best stay close to her so then; poor thing isn't going to know what hit her.'_ Sirius himself was quite fond of Dung, and all his sneaky con-artist ways. However, not too many other Order members (Molly in particular) found Dung as amusing as he did. He couldn't help but think that if they'd all just remember to be mindful of their pockets while Dung's around, then they'd find out that he's actually quite a nice bloke.

"'Ello there darlin'. Mundungus Fletcher, pleasure to meet 'cha." When Dung smiled at Anna, Sirius counted yet another golden tooth added to his collection, which brought him up to five. Anna was brought up short for a moment, clearly not expecting such a small man to have such a big voice. As Anna smiled a cheeky grin down at Dung, Sirius hoped that she wouldn't be too overwhelmed by the trader of dodgy goods' even bigger personality.

"Nice to meet you too, Mundungus. I'm Anna." Anna's tattooed hand looked even more delicate in Dung's, which looked like it had recently been repeatedly whacked by a frying pan it was that fat.

Ever the charmer, Dung repeated the earlier actions of a certain pretentious Slytherin and kissed Anna's knuckles in a joking manner. There was no need for Dung to bend down to reach her hand, and he made a loud 'mwah, darlin' after doing so.

Still grinning mischievously at Anna's laughter, Dung placed his hands on the lapels of his jacket and rocked on the balls of his dragon hide boots that were at least two sizes too big for him, but came at a bargain price that 'would be a sin to pass it up', or so he had told Sirius.

He hung back for a moment, recognising the scheming gleam in Dung's eyes while he tried to measure Anna up. Sirius found it hilarious to hear Dung's stories about the saps that bought his ridiculously overpriced merchandise, and would like to keep on hearing those stories.

If Dung tried to rub Anna up the wrong way though, Sirius had a feeling that Dung's astounding confidence could be damaged irreparably by a good tongue lashing that was probably long overdue.

Make no mistake about it, Mundungus Fletcher was a thief and a scoundrel...but a loveable one all the same.

"Now then Anna...can I call you Anna, darlin'? Right, well then Anna, you may not know who I am just yet, but trust me when I say that no one in this room will disagree with me if I told you that I am the single-most trusted trader of fine quality goods at exceptional prices in all of London." And so Dung went in with full gusto trying to pawn off his dodgy goods to Anna, and with more confidence than one man should be able to own.

_'Excluding myself of course. But come on, I'm Sirius Black.'_

"Why do I have a feeling he's about to pull a Del Boy on me?" Anna turned around and muttered to him under her breath.

Without the faintest idea of who or what a Del Boy was, Sirius decided to laugh and nod rather than interrupt Dung's latest sales pitch.

"You see Anna; I pride myself on being able to read people. I know class and style when I see them, and you darlin', have got both traits in abundance." Shrugging his shoulders into his ill fitting flashy suit jacket, Dung threw in a wink for good measure.

"Which is why I think you will be particularly interested in what I have to show you this mornin'." And without further ado, Dung opened his jacket to reveal the inside pockets lined with the entire stock of a market stall. All numbers of shiny, sparkly and, for lack of a better word- 'stolen shite'- winked out at them.

Quick off the mark in every situation, Mundungus wasted no time in drawing Anna's attention to a top pocket overflowing with what was no doubt leprechaun gold jewellery.

"This beauty here has just recently come into my possession from a very reputable source, and if you don't mind me saying would look absolutely marvellous on you Anna, love. Diamonds, after all, are a girl's best friend." Pulling out a rather thick gold necklace, which sported a rather large diamond, Dung held it out for Anna's inspection with the same care would one give while holding a broomstick made of snowflakes.

"Normally, I'd charge at least forty galleons for a piece as spectacular as this. However, for a girl as beautiful as yourself I'll give it to ya for half price." Still thinking that he was actually getting somewhere, the con-man proceeded to try even after Anna stood and stared at him mockingly.

After taking part in the stare down for a minute, Dung appeared to concede and give up.

_'The world should be so lucky.'_ This thought made Sirius wonder what sort of sad day it would be should a man as daring as Mundungus actually lose hope in his ability to sell shoddy jewellery.

"Fine, twenty galleons and I'll throw in a free bracelet. Goblin made, twelve galleons a pop. I sold one to Glenda Chittock last week, and she wasn't gettin' half the deal that you are love." Dung, bless him, continued on as if he was doing Anna a major favour, with absolutely no idea that Anna had no clue what galleons were, or who in Merlin's beard Glenda Chittock was.

"Mundungus, sweetheart, I'm a...muggle." Gritting the word she hated so much out, Anna decided to make clear to Dung just how far up the wrong tree he was barking.

"I haven't an iota what a galleon is. However, I am quite sure that no matter what value your wizarding money holds, forty of that currency is definitely a rip off for the cubic zirconia hanging off that point zero-five karat 'fool's gold' chain you're trying to sell me." It was a rare sight to see Dung so spectacularly lost for words. A list was slowly forming in his head of the people that would gladly bow down before Anna for rendering Mundungus Fletcher speechless; it was a long list.

Smiling fondly at Dung, Anna patted him gently on the cheek and startled him into closing his mouth.

"Don't look so shocked Mundungus. Surely Anna's not the only girl who's proven she's more than just a pretty face when you've tried to pull the wool over her eyes!" Inserting himself into the equation, Mundungus' stiff expression melted when he saw Sirius.

"I've a bone to pick with you Black!" Dung quickly got over his shock, just as Sirius had predicted.

"It's hard enough to run a business these days without a demented bloody house elf chasing you half way round London! Would it have killed you to send me a message?" Mundungus sulkily secured his coat full of 'valuables' while glaring at Sirius.

"Well Dung, I might have asked Kreacher to send you a message if you weren't notorious for showing up late; or else not at all." Knowing that Dung would forget about the incident in a few minutes, Sirius merely laughed and clapped the con-man on the back.

Secure in the knowledge that Dung wasn't going to try and pull a fast one on her any time soon, Sirius turned to find Anna making her way over to a notice board of sorts that had been erected a while back.

Sirius noticed it because it usually resided in Grimmauld Place for the Order meetings, and could only guess that Dumbledore was adding more information to the rank structure of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. It was arranged in order of those ranking highest in the band of scumbags, with Voldemort resting comfortably above the others. It contained any information the Order dubbed useful- such as occupations, home addresses, etc.

Wanting to be ready to answer any questions Anna had, he walked over to find her studying the chart. She was still glaring at the deformed face of Voldemort when she reached his side, pulling back from it in disgust when she realised it wasn't a trick of the light- Voldemort really did look that repulsive.

"Creepy, isn't it?" No matter how many times Sirius looked at the face of the mad man who began all this he still couldn't get used to it.

"What happened to his face? It's almost..."

"Snakelike." He produced the word she was surely looking for. At her confirming nod Sirius ran a hand through his already disgruntled hair and tried to figure out where to begin.

"He used to look human once; before he died. About three years ago, he used Dark Magic to resurrect himself, and that's how he came back." A vague explanation that had more holes in it than a sieve was the best Sirius could come up with at the moment.

"How did he resurrect himself if he was already dead?" He didn't blame Anna for her scepticism. The entire wizarding world was still in the dark about the spell Voldemort used, lest another lunatic should get any ideas.

"He wasn't technically dead, you see. He used a very dangerous type of magic to split his soul into several pieces a long time before he died." Sirius didn't miss the soft gasp Anna let out, but continued on.

"Later, he tried to kill someone, but the curse rebounded on him. He should have died that night by his own spell, but because parts of his ripped soul were still scattered on earth, out of his body, they anchored him to life...although I'm not sure if 'life' is the word you'd use to describe an existence without form." Sirius was reluctant to bring Harry's name into the story. He wasn't exactly sure why?

Perhaps he wanted to give Anna a chance to get to know Harry for the man he had come to be, rather than the boy whose reputation always preceded him. Judging by the disgusted look on Anna's face, she wasn't dwelling on the unknown saviour of wizarding Britain right now.

"Why would someone go to such lengths to bind themselves _here_, on earth forever?" Sirius was initially shocked by her question.

He wasn't sure exactly what was waiting for him in 'the next life'- he just believed that whatever existed after this life was complete and utter bliss.

He believed that James and Lily would be waiting for him there, along with everyone else he'd lost. He believed there'd be no more wars, or power hungry fools or poxy politicians to listen to. He believed that there'd be no loss, no sadness or grief...

He believed that whatever was waiting for him in the next life would be infinitely better than what life had in store for him here- but what could life possibly have offered Anna, to make her so jaded at just twenty years old?

"To answer that question Anna, you would have to imagine a man who would stop at nothing to gain immortality- at all costs." Sirius hadn't realized that they had an audience until Dumbledore's powerful voice spoke to them.

Throwing Voldemort's face one last vicious glare, Anna turned around to face Dumbledore.

"In my experience on this earth, it has always been only evil men who want to become greater than gods." She made it clear to the room that she had a few certain 'men' in mind when she growled out the words.

"And if I'm quite honest, I find that there's nothing more satisfying than showing them just how far of a fall it is off their self-made pedestal." There was a dangerous bite to her tone that suggested she had carried out this action many times before, and had yet to tire of it.

And so with Anna's fighting words and a furious glint in her eyes, she managed to get everyone in the Headmasters Office riled up enough to tackle the problem ahead of them. Dumbledore wasted no time in taking advantage of her fiery presence, and twenty minutes later they were making slow, but sure progress.

"Well, they know where her allegiances lie at least. Why else would they call her in on a Sunday?" The conversation had moved on to what the Ministry knew of Agrafina and Amathea, and their whereabouts.

Emmeline had just informed them of how deep Voldemort's spies had infiltrated the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Amelia Bones was called in yesterday on some bullshit case or another that in no way required her immediate attention.

Voldemort's lackeys were now so comfortable in their positions that it didn't even matter whether or not they made believable covers anymore; they got Amelia where they wanted her yesterday, and that was in their sights at all times.

That way she couldn't pull any strings at keeping the girls out of the Ministry records and in need of a home should they be found by the Order... or any decent Ministry worker, which was hard to come by these days if you weren't an Auror. There were far too many Death Eaters roaming around that place that would jump at the opportunity to offer a home to the surviving victims of one of their comrade's failed plan.

_'If only to gloat in said comrade's face, when they managed to complete the job they're so called friend had had failed.'_ The mechanics of Death Eater ties never failed to disgust Sirius.

"Right, but as long as no one inside the Ministry knows where the girls are they're safe?" So far, Anna wasn't interested in anything beyond the girls' current safety.

"For the moment, yes Anna they are safe. They are at Arthur's home where his wife Molly is taking excellent care of them." No matter how many times Dumbledore told Anna this, it never seemed to give her the reassurance she needed.

Her fidgeting and pacing was starting to make him nervous, so much so that he was forced to sit on his hands for fear of going prematurely bald.

"What we need to figure out is whether or not the girls will be safe there indefinitely. Arthur and Molly have kindly offered to take the girls in should that be the case." While everyone else gave Arthur warm smiles of admiration, Sirius didn't miss the look of absolute panic that flashed across Anna's face before it was schooled into a passive mask.

"Right, well let's not make any decisions regarding their futures just yet. We still have to figure out why they're in this situation in the first place." Avoiding the piercing gaze of Albus Dumbledore that could see through the doors of a Gringotts vault, Anna turned on the spot once more and continued pacing.

"I think I might have an idea why that is." Dung, hands gripping his lapels stepped forward as proud as punch, gold rings glistening on each and every one of his fingers.

"Word on the street is that Lady Dolohov is quite sick; and she ain't getting better anytime soon. Lost her marbles you see." Dung nodded at all of them, portraying the message with a knowing tap of his finger against his forehead.

Even when deadly serious, there was a comic element about Mundungus that Sirius could not get enough of.

"Anyhow, seeing as she's dyin' an' all, her will is gonna have to be released soon, innit? The problem there being that everything was in her husband's name, weren't it? Supposedly, he left nearly everythin' to his daughter_, Caterine_ Dolohov, god's rest her soul, before he died and she ran off to marry a muggle." Dung was informing them with all the theatrical expression of one of the West End's regulars.

"I don't know about you lot, but I for one wouldn't mind gettin' a look at what the Dolohov's vault contains...among other possessions that might not reside in Gringotts. I'm sure Antonin wouldn't mind havin' it all in his possession either." Dung, still overly chuffed with being able to be of service, nodded in an almost laughable way and went back to sitting out of the limelight.

"Even if Caterine was set to inherit everything, how could that be the reason why He's got all his Death Eaters out searching for the twins? I mean, he's hardly short on gold? He's got every pureblood aristocrat in the country bowing down before him." It irked Sirius to no end that Charlie still refused to call Voldemort by his name.

"Kingsley, is there any way you could retrieve Antonin Dolohov Senior's file from the Ministry archives and bring it here?" The tone of Dumbledore's voice conveyed to Kingsley of how badly needed the file was. Judging by the Auror's pace, he had received the message and was gone in the flash of a green flame.

Anna looked like she was about to press the matter with Dumbledore before she noticed how deep in thought the headmaster was, so instead she just moved over to the fireplace and began inspecting the items placed there.

His gaze followed her movements, as she dropped down into a chair beside the fireplace holding a heavy glass paperweight in her right hand. After twirling it over in her palm a couple of times, she quickly bored of it and turned her gaze to the window on her left, resting her chin on her hand.

The early morning sun had not yet risen to its highest point in the sky. With a look on her face that he himself often wore during History of Magic classes back in his youth, Anna watched the sun ascend with all the enthusiasm of a student in a Friday afternoon detention.

_Slap...slap...slap..._The glass paperweight made quiet slapping sounds against the soft skin of Anna's palm when she started to throw the ball into the air, while her gaze remained fixed in the other direction, staring out at the Hogwarts grounds.

"Sirius." Bill whispering in his ear broke Sirius' out of his trance like state while watching Anna. Regaining his composure, he turned to find the oldest Weasley was staring at Anna and was surprised to find it was with concern in his eyes.

_Slap...Slap...Slap_

"Have you asked her about what happened last night?" Sirius couldn't fathom how he could have forgotten what Anna went through last night!

"No, I hadn't even thought of it until you mentioned it just now." Truth be told, the only event from last night that he was thinking about was waking up to find Anna in the clutches of her nightmare.

"You don't think Greyback...you know?" It didn't slip Sirius' glance the way Bill unconsciously brushed the scars across his cheek at the mention of his attacker. He was obviously extremely uncomfortable with the discussion; it was only after Sirius thought about what the young man said that he realised the word Bill had been reluctant to say was 'rape'.

_Slap...slap...slap_

"I don't think so Bill. She was in a very good mood when she woke up this morning...in fact, she was borderline ecstatic." Sirius laughed to himself when an image of Anna dancing around the hospital wing like a fairy came to his mind.

"That's good. I still don't understand how she managed to make it out alive though; never mind with all her limbs intact." Both he and Bill turned around to look at her, Sirius noticing with a frown the slight bruising that still remained on her knuckles. Other than that, Anna seemed perfectly fine, and one would never guess that she had been in a life or death situation the previous night.

Sirius was about to make a sly comment about her 'just about' making it out alive, until he saw the expressions on the faces of Charlie, Arthur and Emmeline. All three of them were leaning forward in their seats, their heads bobbing up and down in comic sync. Out of the corner of his eye, he witnessed Dumbledore leaning back in his high backed chair, surveying Anna keenly.

Swivelling around to find out what was so attention grabbing, he couldn't find anything extraordinary happening.

The only eye catching thing in the office he could see was of course Anna, but then again who wouldn't find her eye catching? With her long limbed legs crossed over one another, even when she was bored beyond belief she was still breath taking.

Her green eyes staring out the window at the lush grass that was, in comparison, so much duller than the fire that burned in her eyes even when they were glazed over. Her long, silky brown hair was falling down in waves, perfectly framing her face with layers dropping onto her shoulders.

The flawless skin of her bare right shoulder was calling to him, even movements as simple as throwing a glass ball up and down in the air were so effortlessly sexy-

_'What is wrong with you? Pull yourself together man! You're getting turned on by a woman who's almost twenty years younger than you, just because she's throwing a fucking paperweight around!' _

Shocking himself out of his own thoughts, Sirius was more shocked by what he just noticed.

Anna was still throwing the paperweight up into the air; but she wasn't touching it. Her hands were going through all the motions; her wrist flexing in a small arc, fingers curling in as the glass neared her palm...but right before the paper weight made contact with the tips of her fingers, it would halt in mid air for a second before soaring up into the air.

Anna was levitating the paperweight, and she didn't even seem to realise she was doing it.

Minutes passed, and the four wizards and witch that sat in Dumbledore's stared over at Anna with growing interest, tensions mounting as the glass began to float higher and higher. By the time Sirius started getting agitated, it was still making the same small movements in the air, except by this stage it was levitating above her head.

He was worried that at any moment, she could lose concentration and drop the glass! Another knock to the head in less than twenty four hours wouldn't do her any favours!

"Anna?" Slowly and quietly trying to catch her attention, Sirius held his breath and had his wand out; ready to catch the ball should she drop it.

"Yeah?" She droned, pulling her eyes away from the window to turn her gaze leisurely in his direction, her head never leaving the palm of her hand.

When he didn't answer her question, Anna noticed that they were all staring at her and turned her gaze to the focal point of everyone else's attention.

Her eyes widened dramatically when she caught sight of the paperweight floating above her head. However, her concentration was instantly broken, and the glass swiftly dropped through the air until Anna caught it with lightning quick reflexes.

Turning her gaze back to the rest of the room, she smiled sheepishly at their questioning gazes.

"I eh, tend to do that sometimes." Lost for words, he just nodded dumbstruck at her.

"Is that how you survived last night? By using magic like that when Fenrir Greyback attacked you?" Anna's growl caused Charlie's mesmerised face to drop almost as quickly as Anna's had when the werewolf's name was mentioned.

She shot up and banged the paperweight back on top of the mantel piece, somehow managing not to smash it to smithereens. Turning angrily, she sought purchase for her arms, before clenching her left hand and pointing her right index finger in the general area of Dumbledore's desk.

"By the end of this week, I'm going to mount that mongrels head on a spike on these castle walls! Let that serve as a warning to all the beasts like him of exactly what the future holds for them if they go after innocent children again!" If ever a look could turn a living thing to stone, Anna's eyes were capable of doing so right now.

There was tangible electricity filling the Office, crackling visibly through Anna's normally silky hair. Her lips were set in a furious scowl and her jaw set defiantly.

Faced with the rage Anna was in right now, Sirius knew that he'd rather take his chances with Medusa any day.

"Anna while I wholeheartedly agree with your anger, I would just like to explain to you that Fenrir Greyback is one werewolf among many. His immoral and disgusting mannerisms do not reflect on the community of werewolves as a whole, and thus I would advise against labelling them as 'beasts', should you inadvertently insult one of them." Dumbledore kindly informed Anna, his soothing voice not entirely successful in calming her down.

Anna turned to Dumbledore with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes and tilted her head to the side.

"I wasn't calling werewolves beasts. I was talking about paedophiles! Do you know what that sick fuck called out to the girls last night when he walked into that barn? 'Let's have some fun'! I'll show that prick 'fun' when I serve him his dick on a silver platter." Anna continued to work herself up into a fit of range, her cursing increasing along with her blood pressure.

Dumbledore looked away innocently, attempting to use his 'old age' excuse in not hearing what he doesn't want to hear. He softly cleared his throat, and Anna turned around with her furious look still on her face, sighing in irritation with herself when she was reminded she was in the company of others.

"Pardon my French." Sparing the rest of the occupants a nod, Anna continued on with her pacing.

"Anna, before you go out on a personal vendetta against Greyback, please remember that he is a _werewolf_! If you somehow do manage to find a werewolf that doesn't want to be found, don't be blinded by your anger if you do see him. Human form or not, he's still extremely strong even without a wand." Sirius was surprised at the pleading way Emmeline had approached Anna. She barely remained seated in her chair, tired as she was he had expected her to pass out the moment quietness was achieved in the office.

"When I find that mutt, because believe me I will find him, I don't care if he morphs into a seven hundred pound rotweiller! He'd better hope he has a wand on him, because I'm snapping something in half that day one way or another." Anna's latest outburst was surprisingly controlled and left Emmeline with no choice but to sit back in her chair and succumb to the exhaustion.

"I don't think locating Fenrir is going to be a problem Anna. From what Remus informed me of this morning, I believe that Fenrir will be the one to find you." A quick hush encompassed the room at Dumbledore's words, while Anna just stood and stared, dumbstruck.

Sirius saw red immediately, a deadly demeanour overcoming him at the thought of Greyback laying a hand on Anna again. She had absolutely no idea of what kind of forces she was meddling with in the wizarding world that was so foreign to her.

After what he witnessed her go through on Saturday, the moment she fell into his arms after the incident with her reading that dead Paladins mind, he had since been overcome with this desire to protect her.

It wasn't merely by coincidence that Dumbledore gave Anna the other room in the Gryffindor guest rooms. Sirius was aware of the puzzled look the wise wizard regarded him with while he sat by Anna's bed on Saturday and waited for her to wake up- he just chose to ignore it.

He had already failed her once last night, and was lucky that the results weren't fatal! He wouldn't fail her again.

"Sirius! Sirius look at me." Through the low growling that was numbing his ears, he could hear a voice, _her voice_, calling him.

Her delicate hands were strongly easing his own death grip on the arms of his chair, trying to loosen his white knuckles. When his vision focused once more, he was looking into the concerned eyes of Anna. Immediately releasing his hands, he gripped hers tightly in his own while they were gently rubbing soothingingly along his arms.

"Anna, I promise I won't let that man hurt you again." Images of her heartbroken face from last night were running through his mind at a rapid rate, and he couldn't help but think that if Greyback hadn't beaten her so badly then she wouldn't have been put in the delirious state that forced her to relive that pain.

Anna just smiled at him and squeezed his hands gently.

"Sirius, I have made many enemies over the course of my life, one of which is a secret government agency devoted to ending my existence. I'm flattered at your desire to look after me, but please trust me when I say that I can take care of myself." Pulling herself up from her crouched position in front of him, she held onto his shoulder and stood in front of him.

"Besides, I'm good at disappearing when I want to. If I don't want that mongrel to find me, then he won't." Patting his shoulder once more, Anna made to move away from him before he grabbed her hand and made her turn around once more.

"Anna, you don't understand. I don't know if you remember or not, but last night when I was moving towards you I saw Greyback...I saw him taste your blood." The shiver that ran through her passed into him. Sitting below her, he could see the goose bumps rise on her soft flesh.

"I know, now excuse me while I go and vomit." She pulled her hand from his and backed over to the window, leaning her forehead against the glass warmed by the outside sunlight.

"Anna, I'm afraid you don't understand the complexity of the situation. Now that Fenrir Greyback has tasted your blood, your scent has been embedded in his senses. Using it he will be able to track you over vast distances." Sirius now understood why Remus had gone to speak to Dumbledore this morning. Although knowing the wizard, he probably knew about it already.

"That was why Greyback left you alive last night; for the challenge of hunting you down." Bill spoke more to himself than anyone else, but Sirius couldn't hold back the warning glare he gave the man for frightening Anna.

The riddle as to why Anna was still breathing was solved. Fenrir Greyback wasn't going soft; he was even more twisted than ever.

"You mean to tell me that that creature can find me, wherever I go?" Anna never turned around to face them. She kept her rigidly still body as controlled as her steady voice.

"Do not be afraid Anna. While you remain inside the safety of these grounds, he would not dare come after you." Dumbledore reassured her, although Sirius wasn't sure that it was comfort Anna was seeking right now.

She hadn't yet had any reaction to the news that a known killer was able to track her down without any way of preventing it.

"I'm not afraid Dumbledore. I'm annoyed at myself for letting that creature live long enough to ruin _everything_." Anna's voice was beginning to tremble.

She was still standing beside the window, the sun's rays shining through the glass and hugging her slim silhouette. The sunlight illuminated her snug, form fitting trousers to create an illusion of curves where he knew from holding her in his arms last night that she had none.

"Arthur, if Thea and Fina do end up staying with you and you're family, would it be alright if...would you mind if I came and visited them often?" Her voice held the same vulnerability that it held last night. If he had to guess, Sirius would say this was the closest thing to crying that Anna would come to.

Standing up from his seat, he walked over towards her with the aim of taking her in his arms and holding her.

"Anna, my wife and I would be delighted." Arthur told her truthfully.

Just as he was about to reach out and touch her shoulder, Anna turned around with a smile of enormous gratitude on her face directed at Arthur. Just as he saw a tear begin to form in her eye, she disappeared into a haze of shimmering air.

"Anna wait!" But she had already Jumped before he got the words out.

"Is she daft?" Dung cried out, believing as Sirius himself did that Anna had left to take care of Greyback.

Not even able to contemplate leaving her alone in her grief stricken state, Sirius didn't think twice about stepping forward through the portal that was closing before his very eyes. He wouldn't ever leave her alone again- not until he knew she was safe.

Sirius didn't know whether he was expecting to walk straight into a group of crazy muggles waving around more of their heavy weaponry, or tumble right across the bar of a twenty four hour pub. Whatever location he had imagined ending up in, it definitely wasn't the top box of a run down music theatre.

The depth of the pain, sorrow and loss in the sounds that first floated to his ears was so intense, strong and sad that at first he thought he was hearing a haunting rendition of some poor souls heartbreak immortalised- he turned to find the soul shattering music was actually the sound of Anna crying, and the sight almost brought him to his knees.

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I absolutely detest this chapter, no matter how many times I tried to write it, it just would not come out right! So here, this is the best I can offer at this stage; any questions don't be afraid to shout them out!

SheWolf x


	18. Sleeping Beauty's Frayed Nerves

So guys, a shorter chapter for you this time around. I just want to say thanks to everyone whose kept with the story so far and all those who have reviewed, especially my ever faithful reviewer **nartyteek,** whose comments always brings a smile to my face! As always, any questions or queries, don't be afraid to ask! Hope you like it...

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_Some have been thought brave, because they were too afraid to run away - **Thomas Fuller**_

In every village, town, county or city across the globe, there are a plethora of beautiful, amazing, breath taking, wonderful and fantastic revelations just waiting to be discovered by the people travelling through. Each revelation is as unique as the individual that discovers it, because each individual is unique in the way in which this discovery affects them.

For some, it may be the fall of the late Danish spring dew, in the Keukenhof Gardens. Standing amongst the serene surroundings of several million blooming tulips, with the evening sun going down and the weightless beads of dusk moisture settling on your skin, even the most volatile heart at war with itself will find peace- if only for a moment.

For others, it could be the encierro; the most thrilling part of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona. For a soul that has grown weary of the world and its consistency, there is nothing that can resurrect a thirst for life- nothing that can reignite the spark of existence- than running for your life with fellow thrill seekers through the streets and alleys of the Spanish city of Navarro with eleven bulls on your heels- just for the momentary joy of making your heart beat that little bit faster.

Throughout her time on this earth, whenever she has found herself overwhelmed by life and its constant trials and tribulations, Anna has found at least one place where she can overcome any mood or emotion that threatens to consume her.

Over the course of the last three days, Anna felt like she's been up shit creek without a paddle, drifting ever closer to the cataclysmic abyss leading the long way down to her own personal hell.

Paladins had somehow done the impossible; they had elevated themselves from 'bane of her existence' to another dimension of irritation that rested somewhere on her last nerve. Not only have they succeeded in making life even more difficult for her, but they now also drew attention to the fact that something was seriously wrong with her Jump Scars. Yes, because as if her stress levels weren't dangerously close to setting the Richter scale into motion already, the conniving mistress Fate had decided that all her problems should collide at once.

Anna (unfortunately) learned that her newfound powers –which could be described as temper mental at best- actually had the ability to kill people. She also then realised what little control she had over them (which was none), and how they were affecting other parts of her life (which was a fuck load). After all, how else could something become so fucked up inside of her that it was now possible for people to follow _her_ through Jump Scar's?

A feat which she alone seemed to have the singularly spectacular talent for among the entire community of Jumpers (and also played a big role in the reason why the Paladins were so intent on killing her), Anna now found she no longer possessed the luxury of having her Jump Scars mysteriously inaccessible to any other human, Jumper, Paladin or (the most interesting latest edition) wizard.

After deciding to label those two problems under the heading of 'Abnormal Issues', Anna was free to sink further into her personal matters- the main one being that her dead boyfriend, the only boy she had ever loved, wasn't actually dead, and was apparently spending time with her arch nemesis'. The dark points on her horizon were becoming so intense that it was difficult to tell if they were just large in number, or if they were trudging closer.

Another black spot was added today however, when she learned that a perverted mutt had the ability to track her down no matter where she went.

The Fenrir Greyback episode was the final nail in the coffin that made Anna seek refuge; not surprisingly for all the wrong reasons. A normal person would greet the news of a seemingly psychotic werewolf hunting them down as a reason to run for the hills and hide in the back of a booby trapped cave made of pure silver.

Anna greeted this with the entirely backwards reaction of one who has just had the entirety of their freshly planned future ripped away from them in one sentence -because now that she has a target painted on her back, there is no possible way for her to take two young orphaned girls under her wing.

Ridiculously selfish as it was, not only did Anna have a strong desire to become a guardian for the girls; she also saw them as her meal ticket out of a corrupted life full of violence and death, and into the blissful existence of your average person, where everything was wonderfully mundane and ordinary.

With the responsibility of caring for children (two little twin witches in the making, to add to the challenge), she could escape guilt free from a life devoted to Paladin extermination and single handedly ridding the world of tyrants and scumbags.

Sure, she could still dismantle a sex slave industry and get rid of dirty politicians here and there, in between using Fina and Thea as human guinea pigs in her attempt at making edible food. They'd be at school during the day anyway so she'd have nothing to do- hell would experience an ice age that crazy scientists couldn't imagine in their wildest dreams before Anna would consider getting a nine to five job.

Thea and Fina were her escape route from a life she could never willingly bring herself to walk away from. Too many bad things were happening to too many good people in the world, and too many bad people were getting away with murder- sometimes in the literal sense. If she was solely responsible for the survival of two other people, then she would quite happily retreat into the life of the ordinary- there was something so fascinating about not having someone attempting to kill you every couple of days that she couldn't wrap her head around.

Yet even as she stood there, arguing the point to herself that this was never the life she wanted, she still chose to fight for it time and time again. Anna couldn't remember a time in her life when she hadn't stood up for people who were being bullied, manipulated or oppressed. She herself never had reason to stand up for herself in cases like this- most people weren't stupid enough to try that shit with her, and those that were quickly lost the desire to do so. However, as time went by, and she discovered that she was more than capable of putting an end to a lot of the sick and disgusting things happening in the world, she also realised that she was equally capable of putting and end to the people and orgainisations causing these problems.

Situations soon began to arise where she frequently found herself questioning if the means justified the ends? She found herself hounded more intensely by the Paladins and being forced to resort to hostile reactions. As the weeks and months went by, the amount of blood staining her hands increased ten fold. She actively sought out people in need of her help, rather than offering her assistance where she found evidence of mistreatment. The years passed by and Anna found herself wondering does she still help people because of her own passionate beliefs, or had it turned into some twisted search for redemption?

She would have liked to have answered with the former, but feared it was a mix of the two. But what was worst of all was that no matter how much she might have sought redemption or salvation, in her own heart and mind, she didn't believe she deserved it...even though her soul so desperately craved it.

Her mind was turning into a playground for morbid thoughts, and it felt like there was a whole funeral procession of them filtering through.

So, just to put things in perspective; the Paladin threat had just increased astronomically, there was something seriously wrong with her abilities, her picture perfect imagined future had been snuffed out before it even saw the light of day... by a demented werewolf that was out for her blood...and something else?

Oh yes, the love of her life was back from the dead and was in some sort of league with the equivalent of the Darth Vader on her ever growing list of enemies.

At best, she felt like life had taken a stick to her like she was a dying corpse, and was proceeding to poke her until she finally dropped down and held up her hands in surrender.

Yeah right, fat chance of that happening.

When she was back in Dumbledore's Office with the ever growing lump forming in the back of her throat, Anna knew she was treading ever closer to the edge of despair. She hadn't cried (while not under the influence) in over two years. If life wanted to make her cry, it would have to put more effort in than that; it would need to do something painstakingly dreadful...like cause irreparable third degree burns to Sirius Black's face.

There was only one place that Anna could think of to drag her back from the brink of this depression; hence why she found herself in the abandoned music theatre in New York City.

In the city that never sleeps, the ever present rumble of traffic was audible even on the outskirts of the city as the morning sun began to pour in through the many holes of the crumbling ceiling and glassless window frames. Foghorns down by the docks announced the arrival of the day's shipments, carrying sustenance in the form of oil to keep everything moving as smoothly as could be hoped in the hustle and bustle. Car horns blared as delivery trucks hastened on their journeys, and taxi cabs attempted to make their impatient selves heard over the din of the thousands who travelled in droves. The rumbles of the very heart of the city, the people, could be felt through the ground as the morning commuters made their way to work in any and every form of transportation available.

In New York City, life went on, no matter how many devastated young girls' lives were on the brink of destruction in a dilapidated, broken bricked building. In this city, it's either sink in your own misery and misfortune, or swim with the crowd who will push forward no matter who (or what) it has to leave behind to drown in the almost laughable unfairness of life.

Life in this concrete jungle was a constant battle, where CEO's, stockbrokers, accountants, producers and editors fought ruthlessly to stay on top.

But life in Anna's shoes was a constant battle too; only five minutes ago she felt like hope had spread its wings and departed from her life like the hounds of hell were snapping at its tail feathers. She felt like it wasn't worth it anymore, and nothing sounded more appealing than throwing in the towel and crawling out of the ring.

It was in this moment, when she was just about ready to open the floodgates to tears, that the city of New York stepped up to the plate and came through for Anna when she most desperately needed it, by reminding her of why she loved it so much...because if New York City was one thing above anything else, it was resilient. This city and the people in it were constantly rising up over the challenges of life in a place like this; some of them were even coming out on top.

And Anna would rather chew her own arm off than throw in the towel and give up before some schmuck in an Armani business suit, whose life revolved around how many digits followed the dollar sign in his bank balance.

With enough ambition to set the devil himself into hiding should he get in her way, Anna resolved to begin narrowing down her list of problems with the ruthlessness of a Russian mob boss. Hearing loud coughing and ill disguised footsteps behind her, she turned to see an irritated Sirius Black waving his hands through the air in an attempt to put an end to the assaulting clouds of dust floating around him.

Obviously, he hadn't kept to the well worn path that was kept dust free due to her many visits. Anna pulled his strong hands away from his face, not waiting for him to catch his bearings or to wipe the befuddled expression off his face.

"I warned you not to follow people through Jump Scars; you never know what you're walking into." She placed her hands over his eyes and waited for the dust to settle- something he made impossible for himself by waving his hands around like a cheerleader on coke.

When Sirius was no longer shrouded by a glittering cloud of sun lightened dust, she dropped her hands down to her hips and levelled him with a reproachful glare. His grey eyes twinkled sheepishly, and his mouth was beginning to pick up a crooked smile when his nose began twitching violently.

His mercury eyes comically widening in startled apprehension, Sirius brought a hand to his face and threw his other arm behind him, letting out the most adorable 'man sneeze' she had ever seen whilst simultaneously falling backwards towards the tiered moth eaten red velvet seats.

With cat like reflexes, Anna grabbed him by his shirt collar before his gorgeous arse could make contact with the crumbling furnishings. He still had the startled expression on his face when their chests collided with one another, and she threw him a crooked smile of her own.

"Can't have you getting too comfortable Black. We've got business to attend to." Forming an image of their destination in head, Anna wondered if what she had in store for Sirius would serve as a good enough deterrent to prevent him from blindly following her through a Jump Scar again.

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Six hours later, the Hogwarts school day had come to an end. The students were slowly trudging back to their common rooms, stretching out the journey as long as possible in their feeble attempts to put off homework. It was thus with confused glances that the running forms of Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were met with while they wove frantically through the end of school traffic.

The four of them learned from Fred and George that neither Sirius nor Anna had been seen since eleven o'clock this morning, after a flustered Sirius followed a potentially emotionally unstable Anna through yet another Jump Scar.

When the four students arrived in Sirius' sitting room, it was to find Fred and George offering odds on whether or not the two M.I.A's would be sober upon their return or not, and wondering if they're travels had taken them north or south of the equator.

Lupin was sitting in a chair near the window with his head in his hands, and Tonks was pacing angrily, every so often spewing venomous sentences such as "His circumstances better be dire enough to prevent him from sending a patronus" and "If that crazy woman gets my cousin killed on some useless escapade..." and so on and so forth.

Arthur and Charlie Weasley were trying to remain outwardly calm, the Weasley patriarch throwing his most mischievous sons warning glances when their attempts to alleviate the tension were becoming loud enough to capture Mad Eye's attention. He was not in a good mood.

It had not escaped every one's memory that Anna seemed to have a penchant for running into trouble, often times actively searching for it. Sirius himself was also known to be more than a tad reckless at times and everyone knew should the two of them find themselves in danger, it was highly unlikely that running away would be a viable option for both.

After forty five minutes of anxious pacing, endless nail biting and several jiggling knees, the tense silence was broken by two weary sighs of relief when Sirius and Anna appeared out of thin air in the centre of the room.

Both were anchored down with several large black duffel bags.

Letting out an almighty groan, Sirius dropped his arms and let his entire baggage drop to the floor. Anna's spine stiffened and she shot up straight, clenching her eyes shut. When she opened them again, Sirius had collapsed onto the only empty couch.

Now, if looks could kill, Sirius would be well on his way to the next life before he even managed to prop both his feet up onto the newly repaired antique table.

"What did I _specifically _say to you when you offered to help?" She growled at him, holding all her bags with a vice like grip that turned her tanned knuckles white.

"Don't complain?" He feebly guessed, ignoring the many incredulous looks the pair was receiving from the room full of ignored occupants.

"Before that." Anna muttered in clipped tones.

"Absolutely not?"

"After that." She hissed.

"Oh right...be careful!" He shouted, making to hop off the couch and reach for the bags he so carelessly discarded. Raising a long limbed leg off the floor, Anna gracefully settled her foot against Sirius' chest and thrust him back onto the couch with a grunt.

"Sit. Down. Now." She warned when he tried to rise again. Glaring at him for a few more seconds to make sure her words were not misunderstood, Anna slowly turned her back to the group.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Moody grumbled when Anna began to haul one of the many bags to her room.

"I'm taking pre-emptive steps to ensure that _someone_ doesn't light this castle up like the fourth of July." Fixing Sirius with a pointed stare, Anna hoisted the bag full of explosives over her shoulder and remained oblivious to the building confusion in the room. The only thing she cared about right now was getting these to a safe place...or underneath her bed.

"Here let me be of some assistance." "Yeah, me too." Fred and George leapt into action and reached for the same bag, neither willing to relinquish their hold and initiating a game of tug of war with the strap.

"STOP!" Anna yelled, desperately reaching out to the boys and bringing an eerie silence crashing down on the room. The twins tensed immediately and faced her with identical very apprehensive looks.

"If either one of you even so much as twitches another muscle with that bag in your hands, I will personally take you to an Indian slum and leave you there. Without sun cream." Fred and George immediately caught a case of rigor mortis, and Anna took the opportunity to gently snatch the bag from their hands.

Stalking towards her room, she stopped midway and turned around with a dangerously dark expression on her face.

"Unless you want your lives to come to a quick, firey and very unexciting end, no one is to touch those bags while I'm gone." With that, she disappeared into her room and slammed the door. All eleven suspicious gazes immediately turned to Sirius.

"And just where exactly have you been all day?" Tonks finally broke the angry silence.

"I think the more appropriate question is where have I not been." Sirius sighed wearily, stretching his arms above his head and across the back of the couch. Soon, his cousin crossed her arms and began tapping her foot. Then Sirius knew he had no choice but to summon a glass of fire whiskey and begin regaling them with the consequences of spending a day with Anna.

"Cousin, please, it's been a very stressful day. I've been to a crumbling wreck somewhere in New York, an inaccessible room in Berlin, a stifling warehouse in the centre of a Middle Eastern desert and a two million story sky scraper in Tokyo. I've watched a very fat Latin man sweat bullets in Mexico and was told not to move- under pain of death- from a _very _small broom cupboard in Merlin knows where. I've taken part in more than one volatile situation, watched grown men cower before the secret ninja whose sulking in that room over there, and have apparently almost burnt an entire town to the ground- twice." Downing his glass of fire whiskey and delighting in the calming burn, Sirius closed his eyes and began to sulk.

"I have somehow made it into Anna's bad books, and after the events I have witnessed today, have a very strong desire to make it out of said books as quickly as possible." Anna's presence was met with trembling smiles and over exaggerated laughs in the majority of the day's destinations...mainly when they were met by weapons dealers.

In other places, such as Tokyo, there was a very nice elderly man who was over the moon with Anna's unexpected visit. Sirius quite liked this man, who was almost as excited as Anna was while showing her the new 'technology' he had acquired. He also gave her a hug before she left.

The others were now looking at him worriedly, throwing wary glances to Anna's still closed door.

"Boys, I think it's safe for you two to move now." Fred and George had yet to move since Anna's outburst ten minutes ago. They were shocked into motion, along with everyone else, when her bedroom door opened and she strutted over to collapse on the couch beside Sirius.

Pulling another bag towards her, a huge smile broke across her face when she opened it to reveal clothes...wrapped around bottles of alcohol.

"Ah yes, how could I have forgotten our trip to the brewery?" That had been his favourite part of the day. She promised him that there was a good reason for her them stopping off at an apartment where three wardrobes full of clothes were thrown across couches, tables and chairs.

Anna didn't disappoint- she then brought him to an underground room full of vintage wines and spirits. She gave him full consent to pack up anything that caught his eye.

"I made the executive decision of ensuring we had something good to come home to after that day." She groaned and let her head fall back against the back of the couch, lifting her glass up to clink against his.

"Fuck me; crossing paths with just one of those idiots once in a blue moon is enough of an ordeal- never mind actively seeking several of them out in the one go." Anna's hands were shakily pouring herself another glass of whiskey.

She told Sirius it was imperative that if she was going to be spending the foreseeable future at Hogwarts, she could not find herself without the essentials- specifically Jack Daniels and rum. Downing the large measure in one gulp, all former evidence of tension left her eyes almost immediately upon consumption of the alcohol.

"Merlin's sake Black, its five o'clock in the day!" Moody growled, banging his wooden leg against the floor boards when Sirius made to pour himself another drink. Moody made pointed looks towards Harry and the rest of the students, and Sirius resignedly dropped the bottle again.

Sirius had taken a unique perspective on his role as Harry's godfather. After all, he'd been on the run for two years before he finally got the chance to start bonding with his godson. At times, Sirius felt that Harry looked towards him as more of an older friend rather than a father figure- hence Sirius' strategy of behaving like a parent during the week, encouraging study, Quidditch practice, etc. And then during the weekends, all rules were thrown out the window.

Evidently confused as to why Sirius was dropping the drink, Anna cleared her throat and pushed past the conversation.

"Right...okay, where do you people keep the plugs around this place?" She stood up and reached for the bag that Sirius knew was full of things with buttons that he was 'not to even think about touching'.

Mr. Weasley sat forward excitedly, watching Anna remove cables and wires and finicky looking black plastic box like things...computers they might have been called.

"Eh Anna...you can't use electricity or technology in Hogwarts." Hermione's voice, barely above a whisper, was enough to halt Anna into complete stillness.

"Excuse me?" She muttered, not even looking up from disentangling the wires in her hands.

"It's because of magic you see, it disrupts..."Hermione trailed off at the sight of Anna's death glare towards Sirius.

"At some point during the day, did it not once cross your mind to make me aware of that significant piece of information?" She quickly started rubbing her temples with her hands. Apparently, Sirius was making a hasty re-entry into her black books.

"I didn't think you needed electricity?" He told her honestly.

"Sirius, you asked me to get you a computer!" Anna roared at him incredulously, throwing the wires back into the bag.

"Oh...does that mean I can't use it now then?" Watching the childlike disappointment on Sirius' face, Anna gaped at him and turned away to face out the window.

She soon felt bad for her treatment of Sirius throughout the day. Up until now, she hadn't realised how clueless he was towards non-wizard weapons and technology in general. No wonder he didn't understand the gravity of the situation when he set off those bombs in Minsk and Singapore.

Returning her gaze back to Sirius' pouting lips, Anna sighed and gently ruffled his luscious raven black hair. He smiled innocently at her, with his mercury eyes warming considerably under her tender touch.

"I'm sorry for being a little bit narky today. I brought you to a few places, and put you into a few situations that I probably shouldn't have." She honestly admitted, remembering how suspicious Sirius was of the Sheik. He had no way of knowing that she had the situation under control, and was watching every movement the sneaky Arabs were making in their attempt to take advantage of one of the many contracts that were taken out against her.

Poor Sirius didn't even realise what she was doing when she hastily set up a make shift bomb in the Sheik's base of operations. He regarded the whole countdown process as an infinite waste of time if she remembered correctly...poor lamb.

Dejectedly kicking the now useless bags of computers and what not across the room, a small smile graced her face when Arthur Weasley excitedly reached for them. His expression was uncanny to that of a child in a toy store.

"I've been sent back to the middle ages." She moaned, running her hands through her hair in despair. That rendered three of their stops today a complete and utter waste of time. She now had three bags full of useless computers, tracking devices, etc, and nothing to use them for. She also destroyed the merchandise of a Middle Eastern arms dealer.

"It's okay; we can still salvage the situation. I still have the opportunity to suspend that creature by his ankles until the silver chains burn through his skin." It was after collecting the bag full of silver chains, blades and bullets that Anna conceded to let Sirius help with the heavy lifting. Up until then she had only trusted him with the money.

Dropping onto her hunkers and taking inventory of the remaining 'useful' stock, Anna gradually became aware of the awkward silence in the room.

"Christ, someone please say something now, because I'm starting to think the worst." Anna stared at them all with absolutely no semblance of hope in her eyes, praying that some mentally challenged scribe didn't get silver's rumoured werewolf effects backwards.

"Contrary to muggle beliefs Anna, silver doesn't actually have any effect on werewolves." Remus stoically informed her.

Anna said nothing for a few minutes. She moved to take another drink, this time not even bothering to pour herself a glass and just drank straight from the bottle. She then leisurely strolled over to the bags that were now lined up along the floor, pausing before the one full of silver weapons.

"I still have the means to imprison that cretin in his own personal kennel." The swords and blades would also come in handy at some stage, and she might even get some use out of the bullets if she deemed herself desperate enough to use the guns.

This caused another disturbing thought to cross her mind.

"What about gun's? Is there some magical field or mystical force that prevents bullets from firing?" Her voice laced with sarcasm, she took part in the sigh of relief when she was informed that guns would in fact work.

"It's okay Sirius. It turns out the day wasn't a complete and utter waste of time after all." Smiling brightly, Sirius felt his own mood buoyed by the calm demeanour that settled over Anna once more.

"Anna, seeing as you no longer have any need for these wires and plugs..." Arthur Weasley was avidly searching through the bags, smiling bemusedly to himself at the many knots he would have to disentangle.

Anna wasn't partial to the fact that Arthur had an obsession with all things muggle, and so saw no harm in him fiddling with them. After all, he couldn't plug them in anywhere so he was in no danger of hurting himself...or anyone else.

She did get a fright though when he removed a loaded tranquiliser gun with a built in tracking system, and started fiddling with the safety feature.

"Jesus Christ!" Anna shouted immediately. Hermione was already on the ball however and quickly pulled the gun out of Arthur's hands. She gingerly held it by the handle and passed it over to Anna with fear as if she could be scalded by it.

Without hesitating, Anna placed the gun inside the bag with the rest of the weapons of werewolf destruction and placed it in the corner...far away from prying hands.

"That's no problem Arthur. You can take them with you after I've had a chance to look through them. But for now how about you, and everybody else, steer clear of all the bags. My nerves can't take much more of this." She whinged and collapsed back onto the couch, covering her face with a pillow.

Anna claimed an exemption from the following conversations due to frayed nerves. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had been filled in on the situation concerning Agrafina and Amathea, and the fiasco surrounding Greyback. Moody also added that they had made no further progress in establishing why the Death Eaters were after the girls.

After Arthur informed his children that the orphaned girls would be staying at The Burrow for the foreseeable future, Sirius felt Anna's body relax against his. The tension he hadn't noticed she was holding in her shoulders evaporated, and mere minutes later she was fast asleep beside him, slowly burrowing her way in underneath the crook of his arm.

Sirius couldn't begin to imagine how exhausted Anna was. When he followed her through that first Jump Scar this morning, he was certain he was following a person who was on the verge of a complete emotional meltdown.

When he got there though, he was surprised to find a woman on the brink of said breakdown hastily pulling herself back together with a vengeance. From that moment on, she was strangely rigid in her actions.

While they were collecting money, weapons and documentation in Berlin he watched her exuberant personality glaze over. She worked mechanically, answering his questions without thought while simultaneously testing and choosing what weapons and papers she required.

Then they began to meet the war lords and arms dealers. The woman he followed to those places was not the one he had spoken to over the past three days. She was calm and collected on the outside, making sarcastic jokes that succeeded in intimidating their company. He himself kept a wary eye on all of their movements, but at the same time he knew that Anna was very much aware of her surroundings too, if not more so than him, even whilst taunting her 'acquaintance'.

Four times she had prevented men from raising guns or attempting to flee; three times with a simple look and once with a knife. He had absolutely no idea what Anna had done to make men like that fear her; he wasn't sure he'd like to find out either.

She kept up the facade of a cold hearted villain flawlessly, but as the day went on he could see her actions taking hold of her. Rather than putting the time consuming effort into dissolving a hostile situation, Anna took short cuts by initiating 'aggressive negotiations' and frightening what she wanted out of people.

But now, in her sleep, she was free from the visage and facades that she seemed to so often adopt as a means to achieve her ends. With her soft cheek resting against his chest, she looked more fragile than the porcelain busts decorating the castle's corridors, and still a thousand times more beautiful than any statue of Aphrodite.

An irrational anger with his friends was building up inside of him. They persisted to talk without lowering their voices with no care for how desperately Anna needed this rest. He was preparing to throw Moody a scathing look when Remus cleared his throat and suggested they move the conversation to another part of the castle. He didn't miss the watchful gaze his best friend and dear cousin bestowed on him when they all quietly left the room. He couldn't bring himself to care at the present moment though- a few strands of Anna's hair had dropped across her face, and she started to twitch her nose in the most adorable fashion.

Tentatively, he reached out his calloused hands and gently swept the strands away from her face. A great feeling of warmth passed over him when the corners of her mouth lifted in a brief smile. He didn't know how long he sat there, stroking his fingers through her amazingly soft hair and listening to the sounds of her breathing.

Relaxing ever more into his body, Anna relinquished her hold on the pillow in favour of curling her body against Sirius and draping her arm across his chest. When her fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt, he was sure his heart was about to burst forth out of his chest. Slowly, in an attempt to lower his heart rate and relax himself, he brought his arm down from the back of the couch and placed it around her, pulling her slightly closer to him.

His attention was captured once more by her strange russet coloured tattooed hands, until he caught sight of another tattoo on her inner left forearm.

_Matthew 10: 26-28_

He immediately ruled out a person's date of birth. He pondered on it for a while, but when he couldn't come up with any plausible reasons, resolved to just ask Anna another time. By this stage, the long day they had was starting to catch up on him too.

Not wanting to disturb her (and not wanting to let go of her just yet either), Sirius unleashed a yawn and sunk further into the couch. With his eyelids becoming heavier and his heartbeat finally slowing down, he mused that this was the third time in as many days that he had become enraptured by a slumbering Anna.

Sirius' last thought, before sleep finally took him, was that he hoped this wasn't the only time he would get to hold his curiously marked sleeping beauty.

* * *

So, what does everyone think? Don't be shy, let me know what you think!

**Shewolf x**


	19. Better Than The Alternative?

__**Just in case anyone doesn't already know, all images of Anna's outfits can be found on my profile page!**

* * *

_Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars** -**_**J.R.R Tolkien**

"Asante sana Squash Banana, Wewe nugu mimi hapana" In the room that was gradually becoming known as 'The Armoury', Anna was wiggling her body in a baboon like fashion, unconsciously slipping into the persona of Rafiki from The Lion King.

Twilight was fast approaching on Wednesday, following two long days of slowly cooling English weather since Anna's eventful return to Hogwarts on Monday evening, a small portion of military intelligence equipment and Sirius Black in tow. In a rare moment where she found herself alone, Anna took advantage of the opportunity when she wouldn't be distracted by mention of yet another creature that was not restricted to story books; or everything that Sirius did or said. She had a feeling that even with long term exposure to his antics a person would never truly find themselves bored in his presence. All she had to do was look at him from the corner of her eye, and that was fifteen minutes gone out of her day.

During the week when Dumbledore and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix members were 'researching' in the Headmasters Office, the wise wizard had invited Anna to practice mundane tasks such as levitating numerous antique objects and rearranging Dumbledore's bookcase. She had previously admitted to him that she found it hard to use her abilities on the spot, but after an hour or two of appeasing the old man by pretending that she didn't know he was trying to distract her, Anna quickly informed him how insulting she found his ill conceived attempt at getting her to clean his office.

Anna was having trouble finding a suitable way to inform everyone that while repeatedly pouring over identical files of 'shite' for endless hours at a time may have suited they're methods of research, hanging around Hogwarts was slowly driving her demented. Spontaneous outbursts were becoming so frequent that the students determined it a safety hazard for Ministry Officials to cross her path (which wasn't exactly something many of the schools occupants were complaining about). She had of course yet to mention to them that it was slightly detrimental to her health- in the past four years, she hadn't spent this long in the same location bar the one time she woke up to a Chinese man sticking needles in her body and telling her that movement would result in her heart exploding. Any day now, she wouldn't be surprised if the abundance of stone surfaces sent her up the gradually enclosing walls.

Luckily for her (and the Ministry workers who she was convinced were poorly attempting to stalk her), Anna was nothing if not resourceful. Weary of spending too much time away from Hogwarts in case she was absent for a breakthrough of the lycanthrope kind, Anna satiated her restlessness by preparing herself for any scenario that popped into her mind while Dumbledore was testing her with his 'useless shite'. She found it extremely difficult to prevent her thoughts from straying during these periods.

At the current moment, she had two bags prepared and ready to go at a moment's notice. One was a large black duffle bag, equipped with heavy steel chains, knives ranging from daggers to machetes, a claw hammer and pack of nails, a hack saw and shotgun. The second bag was a black rucksack that was packed for stealth, should the situation call for Anna getting in, getting Greyback and getting out fast. It contained simple lightweight chains, a set of throwing knives and a pair of glocks in case she needs to get rid of somebody quickly. In a moment of complete and utter terror during a particularly stressful day in Dumbledore's Office, Anna leapt from the window sill like her arse had just caught fire. While Sirius was inspecting the area for burn marks, Dumbledore listened to Anna mutter something about how she was unprepared for something very important: what if she needed to find Greyback due to immediate and life threatening danger concerning the girls.

She couldn't beat the ever loving shit out of him and then proceed to ask him questions while he was on the brink of death! On the other hand, she couldn't use the tranquilizers she had brought unless she wanted him to be knocked out for a couple of hours. It was a long shot she was aware, but with her mind drifting during 'research' periods, scenarios occurring outside Hogwarts were all that were keeping her sane. She was beginning to question Sirius' honesty when he told her that the castle had a mind of its own; after all, this explanation was better than the alternative.

She had made no less than six trips between Monday night and today in search of a very valuable and extremely rare tranquilizer. After scouring the African planes since morning, she had found what she needed. A lot of sweat, some blood and as of yet no tears had all been poured into obtaining the small vial of sedative she held in her left hand.

Very slowly and very carefully, she transferred the musky yellow liquid from the vial into a dart syringe. After the effort put into finding it, wasting even one drop would definitely start her water works. Finally, after securing the seal and placing the syringe in the gun, Anna's shoulders dropped and she breathed a sigh of relief- until the creaking hinges of the portrait door grabbed her attention.

"Anna, while I have complete faith in your skills, it makes me extremely nervous when you point that thing at me." Sirius crept through the portrait hole at a snail's pace, holding his hands up in front of him before gingerly closing the portrait behind him.

"Sorry, force of habit." It was reflex more than anything else that made her react to Sirius' presence. No matter when or where you hold a gun, a certain mentality always takes over- yet another reason why she hates them so much. "Anyway, this stuff is way too valuable to waste on you." Noting his sigh of relief mingled with a low barking laughter, Anna threw him a cheeky smile.

"This bad boy almost cost me an arm and a leg- literally." Loading the syringe dart in the gun, she made sure the safety was on before replacing the tranquilizer gun back into the black rucksack at her feet. Due to the nature of the sedative she had procured, the gun was placed in its own packaging in one of the pack's padded compartments to prevent it smashing against the chains.

"I take it by your appearance that you've been off gallivanting again. Did you drop in anywhere interesting on your travels? An ancient tomb perhaps? Or maybe a jungle safari?" The highly unoriginal sarcasm in reference to her attire was accepted simply because of devil-may-care expression he delivered it with. It also may have something to do with the way his gaze travelled her body, his mercury eyes lingering on her scantily clad legs for a heartbeat too long.

"For your information, I have been scouring the African planes since sunrise...and yes, I do mean an African sunrise, not a Hogwarts one." He raised his brow at the first mention of 'sunrise' and Anna's mind flashed back to breakfast. After waking up, she had wanted to Jump them both straight to a seat, but a sudden appearance to a breakfast table may have frightened some of the students. Appearing at the top of the stone steps, Sirius all but carried her to the Great Hall; much to the student body's amusement when he informed her that everything was gone.

_'I can smell the hot toast, hear cutlery off the plates and could probably see that stupid grin on your face with my eyes closed on mars. However, thank you for the wakeup call.' _She reluctantly lifted her sleepy head from his shoulder, opened her eyes and shuffled into a seat beside Ron for what may as well have been her midday meal. Little did the rest of them know that she was up at 4 o clock in the morning to go for a jaunt in South Africa for a few hours. She only returned for a 'power nap' to prepare for the long day ahead of her.

"By the time the sun rose _in Africa_, I was fully awake; believe me you couldn't sleep through that even if you tried." Gladly accepting the glass of fire whiskey poured for her, Anna settled down into an armchair and threw her feet up on the antique coffee table. She had been averse to it at the beginning, but Sirius made it look so comfortable.

It also gave her a new angle from which to admire her shoes.

"What, pray tell, do the many wonders of the ferocious African deserts have to offer a six foot beauty in high heels?" Sirius remained standing up, leaning against the fireplace in a position that was to her liking, because it gave her a better view of his long, lean form.

"First of all, I'm five foot ten. Secondly, their wedges, not heels...a completely different ball park and an excellent weapon for avoiding spider and snake bites. Finally, in exchange for a very rare and unique sedative, I had to procure a rare spotted horn from a male addax 'lost in battle', and the venom of a thirteen year old wild black mamba. In Africa, you're not exactly tripping over those items." Raising her chin and taking a sip of her drink, she congratulated herself on the accomplishment of said tasks in addition to escaping relatively unscathed- and still looking impeccable. "But enough about me, how was your day Sirius?"

She smiled sweetly at him, never failing to be amazed by the amusement he found in her recent escapades.

"What, in the name of Merlin, did you need to acquire wild animal parts for?" More interested now than before, he grabbed his drink from the mantel piece and sat down on the table beside her feet, elbows on his knees and leaning towards her. The bare flesh of her calves was rubbing against the fabric of his trousers, no doubt ingraining the sand into her still slick with perspiration skin.

"They come in handy when you need to make a trade with a Voodoo priestess. Believe me, if that was all that was needed for that concoction she cooked up, it would have been a walk in the park." Rolling her eyes and taking a long, well deserved gulp of her drink, she nearly spit it all back out when the previously hooked man in front of her scoffed and started to laugh.

It took Anna a few seconds before she heard the scoffed word of 'Voodoo?' escape his perfect lips. That sentence alone was enough to reduce her to laughter, and soon enough both of them were as confused as the other.

"You're telling me that you're a _wizard_, who is friends with a half-giant and has post delivered to him by owl, yet you don't believe in voodoo?" As the latest days passed by, Anna found that the sentences she spoke became stranger by the hour.

"If voodoo actually does exist, which is speculation in the magical world at this point, what is so special about you're 'potion' that other sedatives couldn't offer?" Interested once again, Sirius returned to his former position, this time swirling the drink in his glass between his hands and smiling a self-satisfied smirk.

She'd show him. Reaching into the bag once more, she withdrew the tranquilizer dart and held it in front of him; all thirteen milligrams.

"This 'potion' is so dangerous and complex that its production is known only by the High Priestess of the oldest tribe of South Africa -which is believed to be extinct. Its ingredients are so volatile, that even an extra hair from the black widow spider could knock it off balance. Furthermore, it's not only valued for the fact that it's the fastest paralysing toxin yet to become known to man; it's got the fastest acting antidote as well, returning full bodily function within two and a half minutes." When she was speaking, she noticed the awe in Sirius' eyes slowly blend to suspicion, and finally realisation.

"An ideal weapon to use against a dangerous and unpredictable werewolf one has a desire to interrogate?" She caught the scent of whiskey mingled in with the usual leather that permeated every atmosphere Sirius graced with his presence. It was heavenly.

She held Sirius' burning gaze for a moment, uncrossing her ankles and settling her feet onto the floor. Her tanned legs brushed against his, and she took a moment to relish in the contact while brushing stray sand grains from her still sizzling skin.

"Among other uses..." She looked up into his mercury eyes, his irises no longer shining with a metallic gleam but melted to a smoky grey, swirling and circling around like a drain, pulling her in. Plucking his empty glass from his hand, she stood up, smirked and waltzed over to refill both glasses.

"So, I see you're still pursuing with your vendetta against the Order's strategies and tactics?" She heard him stand too, following behind her to lean against the mantel once more. She was sure she could feel his gaze burning into her back.

"'Research' is neither a strategy nor a tactic when other, faster and more reliable options are readily available. Why bother looking for it, when you can hear it straight from the horse's mouth?" She took a pause in pouring the whiskey and held the bottle aloft for a moment. "Or rather the wolf's mouth."

"Say you do manage to catch Greyback, tie him up and interrogate him; what happens if he doesn't talk? Voldemort will be alerted to the fact that we know more than we should, and we lose the upper hand." She turned around to realise that Sirius was no longer exchanging banter with her, and he was – for lack of a better word- being serious.

"Sirius, getting him to talk won't be difficult. It's getting him to stop whinging after I'm finished with him is what's worrying me." She handed him the whiskey glass, watching from behind the rim of her own glass while he contemplated her and what she had just said. He lowered his gaze to stare at the swirling contents of his drink.

"And how exactly do you plan on persuading a man with superior strength, faster reflexes and accelerated healing to talk?" The curiosity was evident in his eyes, even though she could tell he was asking against his better judgement.

"I have my methods." Keeping the mystery under wraps was a good idea at the present moment. Interrogation techniques weren't really a conversation she was interested in discussing with Sirius. "Speaking of methods; what exactly is the significance of wolfs bane? Does it have any particular effect, or is it just another urban myth in relation to werewolves?"

He continued to stare at her for a few seconds, clearly unwilling to drop the subject just yet. When she narrowed her eyes at him slightly, he simply shook his head at her and sighed. Just as Sirius opened his mouth to answer, his brilliant grey eyes sparked with whatever firework had just gone off in his mind. The metallic gleam and mischievous smile settling over his features offered her no comfort.

"I have a proposition to make." Sirius paused, the smirk on his face tilting in the corners for a brief moment, no doubt at the suspicion on her face. It was a tense moment while he studied her, relishing in her anticipation before he deigned to speak. "I will reveal to you every piece of information I'm aware of about werewolves, in return for one thing."

She should have expected this.

"For the last time Sirius, I am not giving you a shotgun." She fixed him with a glare, adamant about not having this conversation with him again until she taught him how to handle a gun first. It was a task high on her list of priorities after he confessed to her that he believed he would look good on horseback, with a gun and kitted out as a cowboy. She laughed along with Remus and the twins whilst agreeing with him in her mind.

"I wasn't aware that particular conversation was dropped from the drawing board yet, but we can discuss that later. All I am going to ask is that in exchange for this information, you simply promise not to go after Greyback without me." Sirius was regarding her with amusement, no doubt having already gauged how much she would struggle with his request.

She glared at him for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons of having a wizard around whilst searching for Greyback.

"You drive a hard bargain Black, but I suppose you've got yourself a deal. This whole werewolf business has me very intrigued." She wasn't thrilled with the agreement, but had to make a concession for one reason; Sirius Black isn't just any other wizard- he's like a god on earth. It could take hours for Greyback to show up, and Sirius' utterly ridiculous good looks would be a great way to pass the time.

Plus, she can just ditch him back at Hogwarts when it comes to getting answers out of the mutt.

"Excellent! Now then kitten, what's say we bring my _magnificent_ deluxe tour of Hogwarts towards its final curtain call whilst I unveil to you the plethora of promised information." Sirius offered his arm to her, all the while continuing to mesmerise her with his swirling smoke like eyes that were gleaming with mischief.

Sighing in mock irritation, she pulled the light jumper from the couch before her and threw it over her shoulder, knowing that when the heat of the desert finally left her it would get very cold in the stone castle. At first, she thought that Sirius' chivalry was a joke, or a slightly over friendly welcome on her arrival. As the week progressed, he continuously made her heart flutter with these gestures after she realised that Sirius genuinely was a proper gentleman (which is hard to believe considering his vocabulary and general behaviour).

As Sirius watched this movement, something seemed to have caught his eye and he started looking at her as if he was seeing her for the first time, with his head cocked to the side and brows furrowed in thought.

"Love, what on earth are you wearing a scarf for?" She couldn't keep the smile off her face, and took the lead as she was prone to do when Sirius became confused over one thing or another. Explaining the difference between seasonal scarves would not likely be a concept Sirius would grasp- even if that was the reason she was wearing said scarf.

"Because sandstorms during the dry season are a bitch." She fixed him with a pointed stare, pulling the scarf from her neck and throwing it on the couch behind her. As the scarf flew behind her, a gentle waft of perfume was released through the air, and for a moment she visibly shuddered. "Also, this particular scarf is doused in Gautier. There is _no_ word in the English language, or any other language I know that is fit to describe the interior stench of a Shaman's hut."

**Sirius Black's Deluxe Tour-**

A lot of words sprung into Anna's mind when Sirius gallantly threw the huge doors of Hogwarts library open for her. True to her nature the majority were curse words, and of the small minority that weren't, an even smaller percentage were English. Sticking with the Disney theme she had adopted for the day though, she decided to take a leaf from the Mary Poppins creators who kindly developed a word for this exact situation.

"Super-cali-fragil-istic-expiali-docious." The long, drawn out and slightly dopey pronunciation of the word echoed throughout the room filled with thousands of stationary and flying books, curious and diligent students and as Anna soon found out after the first mention of 'fuck', a very strict librarian.

She was so entranced by what she was viewing that Sirius' continuous questioning about what 'that word' meant went in one ear and out the other. Second to Hogwarts, magic and wizards in general, this place was one of the greatest discoveries of her life- tens of thousands of books, thousands of shelves and all of this for subjects that she couldn't even make up if she tried. The smell alone of weathered old parchment was like a fine perfume to her senses.

The titles of the beautiful leather bound books were enough to keep her entertained, and so traipsing through the aisles and completely ignoring Sirius she forgot why they were even there in the first place. Short of walking head first into Hermione, Anna was certain she would have strolled around the place for days on end.

"Anna, what on earth are you doing here?" Hermione's face lit up with a smile of laughter, no doubt finding her dazed state hilarious. Hermione was returning a large tome back into a slot that was far too high for the girl.

"Sirius just showed it to me a few minutes ago!" Swinging the book she grabbed from Hermione to gesture what 'it' was, she easily returned it to its intended spot. "This place is incredible."

"You really think so?" Hermione turned to start walking again, a look of utter surprise on her face when Anna revealed her opinion. She followed her to the end of the aisle and towards a small table tucked away in a corner beneath a large window.

"Hermione, when it comes to man made sights, it could possibly be more amazing that the Library of Congress; simply for the fact that the books can actually _fly!" _She was glad to see that some of her excitement was passing into Hermione, who all but hugged her when she let slip that the point of information.

"I'm sorry, it's just I never would have taken you for a book person." The bushy haired girl flopped into a seat, staring at Anna with disbelief written all over her features.

"Why, what sort of person would you have taken me for?" She joked, not knowing that she had extended an open invitation to answer.

"A bit mental to be honest."

"Sort of deranged."

"A woman whom hell hath no fury like."

Ron, Harry and Sirius kindly commented in order while Anna perched on the windowsill rather than sitting down on one of the uncomfortable looking wooden chairs. Her curious eyes drifted to the beautiful Hogwarts landscape on the other side of the window that was glowing a fiery orange with the quickly setting sun.

"I was going to tend more towards a thrill seeking, adrenaline junkie adventurer/ tomb raider...sort of like Lara Croft. But those are somewhat valid descriptions." Hermione laughed along with the others, while Anna merely rose higher and picked up a book from beside her.

"Yes, well next time don't judge a book by its cover." She flicked bemusedly through a few pages before turning back and unleashing her self-satisfied smile on them.

"Finally! A joke containing a pun without mention of either version of the word 'serious'." Remus appeared from another aisle, looking horribly worse for wear and seemingly in extreme pain. His expression was strained, and his quick steps indicated that he was in a rush- probably to collapse into the chair by Sirius.

"Yes, well I do try." She whispered nonchalantly, trying to ignore the tension that manifested in the atmosphere in unison with Remus' arrival; Anna found that so far she thought he was quite adorable. Silence reigned for another moment or two, five sets of eyes glancing cautiously at a goblet that Remus held in his hand. Anna had studied it when Remus walked in, and hadn't noticed anything unusual about it on her second or third observation so she decided to let it go.

"What does super-cali-fragil-istic-expiali-docious mean?" Sirius leaned over the back of Harry's chair and asked aloud.

Without missing beat, Hermione casually flicked over the page of the book she had just opened and replied with "Something to say when you have nothing to say."

"Oh." Sirius clearly expected a different answer, and raised his hand to twirl his moustache in thought. She looked at him with raised brows until he acknowledged her, shrugging his shoulders under her scrutinising look. "What? I thought that seeing as it wasn't a curse that I knew of, it could be some sort of religious deity. Everything with you is 'Jesus Christ' this and 'Christ above' that."

She held the look on her face for a moment longer, turning away slowly when her smile broke through. After all, it was a fair assumption on his part...her language really was atrocious.

When the boys began their own conversation, she hopped down onto the table beside Hermione and snuck a peak in at what she was reading. She was surprised when she found that the green leather book was filled with glossy pages of a magazine, and couldn't resist the urge to take up residence in the chair beside Hermione.

"So, what's the big occasion?" She whispered conspiratorially into Hermione's ear, butting the girls shoulder. Hermione got a mild fright and jumped in her seat before she settled down and took a quick glance across at the men. Satisfied that they weren't paying the least bit of attention, she smiled and leaned in towards Anna.

"Well...it's my birthday on Saturday. Ginny's informed me that we're having a party- nothing big, just a little get together in Sirius' quarters." Hermione's brilliantly bright brown eyes lost their sparkle when something obviously came into her head and she started biting her lip. "Which, I guess would be your rooms now also. If it bothers you, we can move-"

"Excellent, I love parties!" The thought that she would most likely still be here on Saturday gave sudden rise to a bout of panic. Nevertheless, Anna was good at hiding things and decided to hide her panic behind the smile currently taking over her face. If she really was going to be here, she might as well focus on the positive...besides, she really did love parties.

"So, what would you like for your birthday?" She had taken a quick look at the article Hermione was reading, but after it turned out to be some 'brew it yourself' hair potion she realized that that was hopeless.

"Excuse me?" Hermione managed to stutter out over the silence that now surrounded them after the boys abandoned their chat.

"Well I could surprise you and take you to Austria, but what happens then if you hate skiing? Or I could take you scuba diving, but you could be deathly afraid of water. Trust me; surprise presents are best left until you know the person well." While Hermione was opening and closing her mouth, presumably having difficulty making up her mind, Anna was rifling through places in her head and picking out no-go zones.

"We need to avoid going stateside as much as possible. Obviously, you don't need to decide right away, best to at least try and be original about it. I mean, if you ever go to Paris, the view from the Eiffel Tower isn't going to change much now, is it? And please, do not ask me to take you to Auschwitz. I've been there once, involuntarily just so you know, and to this day the place still gives me the creeps...I just do not understand some people's morbid fascinations with-"

"Australia." Hermione interrupted, her expression set and no longer dazed. Anna noticed the sudden halt in motion over the boys with Hermione's abrupt answer, and she suddenly felt that they weren't moving for fear of stepping on an egg shell. She had no option but to ignore it though; there was a determination in Hermione's eyes that told her she could not be dissuaded.

"Right, well, excellent. Any particular area or just the place in general? Because if I don't know the area, I'll have to book flights and it's just better to do them earlier." Hermione took a sudden intake of breath which appeared to be shocked. Her eyes left Anna's and started darting over and back, her teeth once more biting into her lip.

"I...I don't know where they...where to go." Hermione managed to mumble out through trembling lips. The girl was intent on staring at her twisting and turning hands.

"Well hey, that's okay. I can Jump us straight to a lot of places, mostly on the eastern coast; we can visit a few places, you can have a look around and see where you like best." She spoke as gently as she could, reaching out to loosen the suddenly fragile girls grip on her skirt hem. Anna started to worry when Ron moved around from his seat and came to kneel beside Hermione.

"Hermione." Ron put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. The moment his hand came into contact with her knee, she broke out of her trance and raised her eyes to Anna.

"Actually, I think I'd rather stay here. I can't really leave my own party after all. Another time maybe?" Hermione smiled a watery smile and quickly wiped at lone tears that escaped her eyes. Her voice was falsely chipper when she arranged her things in her bag and grabbed the remaining pile of books she had yet to put back.

"This place is closing soon anyway, and I've still got some more studying to do. I'll see you in the common room." She nodded at Ron, who was hovering by her side and was reluctant to move. After swinging the bag across her shoulders, Hermione started to walk off, completely forgetting the pile of books behind her.

"Oh!" She turned back when she reached the aisle, but Harry was already seeing to them.

"No it's alright Hermione; I'll take care of them." Harry smiled gently at Hermione, and all the while Anna couldn't rid herself of the sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Thanks Harry." She muttered quickly, turning on her heel and bolting from the library. With a hasty nod, Ron leapt up and followed after her, leaving Anna alone with Lupin, Sirius and Harry.

"I'm just going to return these. I'll see you guys later?" Harry rose and left. Sirius dropped a hand on his godson's shoulder when he passed by, and the green eyed boy threw them all a small wave before disappearing behind a shelf.

Eventually, Anna turned to the two men with somber expressions and asked a question which she knew wasn't theirs to answer. "Why do I suddenly feel like shit?"

**End of the Line**

"Sirius Black, just so you know that if I trip on these steps, I will not be going down alone." Unable to see where she was going, Anna was stuck between trying to get a grip on the banister beside her and prying Sirius' fingers from covering her eyes.

"Neither of us will have to go down if you would just stop pawing at me." They both stopped at that to appreciate the Sirius' comment.

"Well, if you would just tell me where we were going then I wouldn't have to paw at you, would I?" Moving together as if on cue once more, Anna went back to picking at Sirius' calloused fingers covering her eyes.

"Well if I told you where we were going then it wouldn't be much of a surprise now, would it?" His moustache was tickling her ear every time he talked. Still trying to process whether or not she liked it, she allowed him to remain where he was.

"Well if I don't even know where I'm going then there's no point in me being blinded, is there?" She was satisfied that this time her logic had finally gotten through to him. He immediately bounced into her back, having to wrap his arm around her middle to prevent her from falling forward onto what felt like hard, stone steps.

"Have a little faith in me, will you?" He whispered into her ear, his grip around her stomach tightening in askance. Anna loved surprises; she really did. What she didn't love was being led up a never ending staircase with her vision blocked.

She also didn't love the way that Sirius holding her in his arms, whispering in her ear and jokingly leading her to a surprise was eerily reminiscent of a memory/dream turned nightmare she relived four days ago. In fact it frightened her, the way that this man reminded her of a man she used to love; mainly because she had known _him_ for two years, and Sirius for four days.

Clearly some form of screw has become loose during her recent stint in Hogwarts. Anna was happy to blame the talking portraits. Sirius Black was on a first name basis with all of them; he had some sort of ability to make people feel as if they had known each other for years- at least, that was the only way she could explain why he felt so familiar to her.

She took a deep breath, not bothering to answer but just willing to take a leap of faith with the man who rescued her from being shark bait. Whilst moving, she tried not to think about how their movement synchronised in a way that dance couples took years to perfect.

She could feel his heartbeat increase against her back when the temperature of the late summer evening fell. The twilight dew in the air cooled her bare legs, its light weight refreshing her after a day spent in the suffocating heat of the desert. She was still glad she remembered a jumper.

"Okay, wait here for just a moment." She felt Sirius release her and gently slip past her. She waited with baited breath, listening to the three steps he climbed up, the creaking of a door and the delicate breeze flowing in.

"And don't peak." He ran back down to take both her hands in his own and place them over her eyes. Just at that moment a light wind blew in from behind Sirius and graced her with his scent of old leather, parchment and fire whiskey. The aroma danced around her while he was gone, and once more she felt like she was wrapped in his arms.

"Ok love, you can open your eyes now." Slowly opening them on command, the first thing she noticed was Sirius' legs hanging down through a trap door a few steps above her. Grey, stone walls encompassed her on either side of a winding staircase, coming to an abrupt stop right where Sirius was waiting for her. She walked gingerly forward and put a hand on Sirius' leg to stop him from jumping down to help her. She could pull herself up through the door using one hand- but that would be showing off.

When she sat on the ledge of the trapdoor, her breath caught in her chest.

"Welcome to my very own favourite place in the whole wide world." Sirius reached a hand down to help her up. She gladly took it, silent in awe and spinning in a slow circle under Sirius' arm to get a 360 degree view of the Hogwarts enchanting landscape.

She was standing on a circular open roof terrace, about twenty five feet in diameter with a smooth cobblestone floor, one entrance and a low stone railing winding around the ledge.

In front of her was a lush green mountain range that spanned the entire width of her vision. She could see the gigantic Forbidden Forest, stretching on as far as the eye could see; the tips of the huge tree's growing smaller and darker in the failing light of sun set.

"Sirius, this is beautiful." She tore her eyes away from studying the scenery to look up at him, and noticed with a thump of her heart that all the while he was studying her. He smiled down at her, still holding her hand gently in his and led her forward to the railing, where he placed his hand over hers and admired the view.

How long they stood there for, Anna wasn't sure. He pointed out the schools landmarks to her, features of it that hadn't changed since his boyhood days. Each one came along with tales of mischief and hilarity and each one involved Remus and James, whom she had learned was Harry's father and Sirius' best friend.

"James the daft sod passed out the second we got through the gates. It all went downhill from there when Mooney -who was supposed to be the sensible one-, tried to carry him. Eventually we woke Hagrid up, and he had to carry the both of them in to stop us from waking the castle up. He gave us a right bollocking in the morning!" The entire time he was talking about his childhood escapades, Sirius' face lit up.

He hadn't stopped laughing since he pointed out the lake, reminiscing about when he and James dressed in the invisibility cloak and managed to tie the shoelaces of a record number of sixteen students together. Apparently, they had fallen like dominoes.

In the mean time the sky had blended from pinky gold to velvet black, and neither had noticed. At some time during their conversation two torches behind them had ignited to bathe them in a faint orange glow.

"An angry Hagrid for a wakeup call...sounds like something you wouldn't ever want to repeat again." She laughed along with him, knowing that Sirius was only half listening to her.

"Oh it was bad...Lily was worse though. You'd think after seven years we would have built up immunity to her wrath." Sirius' gaze went blank for a moment and he shivered, running his hand through his hair and dispelling his thoughts.

"She must have been a fearsome woman if she gave you the shivers."

"Oh she was indeed. I'm sure she would have given you a run for your money." He nudged her with his elbow gently, winking at her in the process.

"She sounds like a woman after my own heart." She smiled at him teasingly, making a mental note to inquire about school photos of Sirius.

"I'm afraid not kitten. Lily was always scolding us for our pranks; I have a feeling that if presented with the chance you would have been the mastermind behind our mischief." Oddly enough, sharing school day tales with Sirius didn't evoke feelings of jealousy in her that usually surfaced with these types of conversation. When Sirius spoke about it, he made her feel as if she was a spectator who he was simply reminding of the occasion. She soon found that she actually enjoyed reminiscing with Sirius- as long as it wasn't her own past.

"I don't know. If she could handle teenage boys, I'm sure there would have been some hope for me."

"With Lily there was always hope for everyone." The grin slowly dissolved from his face, leaving in place a small, fond smile. She leaned over the railings and gave him a moment to himself while she slowly gazed out over the Hogwarts grounds at nightfall.

"She sounds wonderful." She said in simple acknowledgement.

"Oh she was marvellous. I wish you could have met her, something tells me you would have gotten on brilliantly." He mimicked her place on the railing, crossing his arms and sighing. "I wish Harry could have met her...met them both."

"He never knew them?" She asked hesitantly, knowing they were on a touchy subject. She hated it when people asked her about her past, and was on the lookout for signs in his manner that would tell her when to shut up. So far, she was clear.

"Not properly. He was only one when they died. He has no memories of them." Sirius was whispering now, because talking aloud was too painful.

_'He has no memories of them.'_

She wondered what it was like for Harry. Is it worse for people like him because everything he knows about his parents is someone else's memory? Or is it worse for people like her because their memories are their own?

It came down to the age old question of what would you prefer: to long for something you never had, or to miss something that you loved. She was ashamed to say that some days it was hard to choose an answer.

"At least he has you. And Remus and Hagrid and people that can tell him how much they loved him." There wasn't much she wouldn't give so that her family could still be with her.

"It's still no substitute though. He's only seventeen- no child should be without a parent." She remained silent after Sirius said something she believed should be a universal law.

"And now poor Hermione..." He spoke to himself mostly after a pause. Holding his head in his hands, he surveyed the area while she debated whether or not to ask him.

"Did...did Hermione's parents die also?" If they had something to do with the girl's desire to go to Australia, Anna would like to know so she could figure out the extent of how badly her birthday offer had ruined Hermione's day.

"Not exactly..." Sirius paused, looking at the dark sky and contemplating for a moment. She was about to tell him he had no obligation to tell her anything, when he started speaking again.

"You remember how I explained to you about how Voldemort and the Death Eaters despise muggles and muggleborn witches and wizards?" She nodded in response to something that he had explained to her earlier in the week. Basically, it was just racism that had elevated beyond the usual 'I don't like you because you look/talk/believe different than me.'

"Well Hermione is muggleborn- which in itself alone is proof that blood plays no part in magic and a person's ability. Dumbledore himself has said that she's the brightest witch of her age." A defensive streak appeared in Sirius that she hadn't seen yet.

"You seem to care for her a lot- for all of them." Ron, Ginny, Fred, George...anyone with eyes could see how important they were to Sirius and to each other.

"I don't know; really they're just stuck with me because I'm Harry's godfather and Remus' childhood baggage." He laughed at his joke, but she could see how he believed what he just said.

"That's not true you know. You probably don't notice it, but I do. They love you very much, especially Harry. Fred and George practically think you're a god in human flesh. You make them laugh. When one person in a family is happy, everyone is; even if they try not to be." Jealousy had affected her in some forms over the past few days- she was just good at hiding it.

"I know. I've been trying for a while, but those poor kids. They really are great; they don't deserve this." He sighed again, and this time she kept silent. She didn't want to push about Hermione's parents- she'd find out when the time was right, if Hermione chose to tell her.

Following his lead, she turned to look up at the thousands of stars twinkling idly above them. She gasped when she saw the moon above them, illuminating the night with her brilliant silver light. At some point, she must have shivered because Sirius quickly drew her close and put an arm over her shoulders.

"Are you cold?" She hadn't noticed it until she felt the warmth of his body around her. Years of conditioning had trained her body to become used to a temperature that would not be described as 'mild'.

She shook her head up at him, unable to voice through the shocking thoughts that made their way into her head. Both of them turned back to star gazing, while somewhere in the distance a wolf's howl rang through the sky.

"It's a full moon tonight." She whispered.

She thought it odd that Sirius chose this night of all nights to bring her to a blindfolded surprise. It was the second time this evening that she was reminded of an old dream recently turned nightmare. It was a full moon that night too on the deserted candle lit island. The stars were silent then though; the sky was too bright to reveal them to her and him, laughing and dancing on that small spit of land lost at sea.

She turned her eyes from the stars to Sirius. His eyes were drawn to a spot near the forest and she had the perfect view of his face. The moon's silver beams fell into every corner, yet her cold stark light never altered Sirius' warmth. His mercury eyes, fixed on some distant point in a distant time reverted to their liquid form, and made her feel like she could just melt into them.

Unlike _him,_ Sirius never lost his warm glow, his pale skin never turning icy white even with the light of just two torches. They were surrounded by hundreds of candles that night, and yet the only light she remembers on_ him_ was the cold silver moonlight.

She had always preferred sunlight.

Anna had been far too many places and seen too many things to simply believe in coincidence. Things didn't 'just happen'. It wasn't by mere chance that of all the memories that her conscious could have sabotaged about _him_ it 'happened' to be that one last Saturday. Sirius didn't just 'happen' to partially re enact a moment from her past- she was meant to be here, on the roof with Sirius. She was meant to be reminded of _him_ and _that_ night, she was meant to make the distinguishing features between them both.

She just didn't know to what purpose...

She sighed loudly in momentary defeat, knowing that she would figure out life's reasoning when she was meant to. While contemplating, she hadn't noticed how she'd sunk deeper into Sirius' embrace to shy away from the cold. He pulled her almost completely into the shelter of his body, leaning over her form from above.

"We better head in before you freeze to death." He gave her arms a light rub, trying to warm her. They remained for a few more seconds, looking out over the Hogwarts grounds.

"You see that patch of light there, a little bit away from the castle." He didn't have to point this time; it wasn't hard to miss the fairy tale like village that existed beside the school. "It's called Hogsmeade. It's got one of the best pubs in Britain- The Three Broomsticks. I could take you there someday if you'd like?" Neither of them moved, both keeping their eyes locked on the little village that held so much promise for a future that would probably never occur.

"I'd like that." She whispered against the soft wind that was starting to pick up. "If I'm still here."

"If you're still here." He sighed, his chin resting on top of her head. He turned them then, his arm never leaving her shoulders and directed them back towards the trap door.

She remained leaning against him, sad that he probably would never know how much she would like to go with him. She was sad that she'd met all these wonderful people, and knew that soon she would have to leave them; probably as soon as the Greyback fiasco was dealt with...she wasn't very good at goodbyes. She was sad that after spending nearly every waking moment with Sirius, too soon for her liking she would be back to drifting around on her own again.

She wondered if he'd be one of those things she thought about all the time: would she regret meeting him because she'd miss him, or would she rather not have met him at all just so she wouldn't have to remember him.

Thankfully, right now she didn't have to deal with that.

"Hold on. I have a better idea." She stopped in her tracks and pulled him back around to face the grounds once more. "This place really is beautiful- it deserves a noteworthy exit."

She smiled devilishly up at him, determined to end this night on a good note whether he liked it or not. His curious mercury eyes met hers but this time she was too lost to the moment to lose herself in him. She could feel her heart pumping faster and the adrenaline was starting to kick in. She quickly bent down to take off her heels, holding them in her left hand and letting the cool stone sooth her feet.

She was standing bare foot on the roof of a castle beside one of the most gorgeous men on the planet, preparing to do something that would frighten the lives out of dozens of students and possibly one grown man.

She bit her lip and held her hand out for Sirius. Without hesitating he grabbed it in his own warmer, larger hand. They both took off at the same time, identical smiles lighting up their faces as they ran into the unknown.

That night, they both took a leap of faith in each other.

* * *

So sorry about the ridiculous lack of updating! Any questions, comments, whatever...don't hesitate to ask me!

Shewolf x


	20. Nighttime Altercations

_...But what he meant is, nothing comes without a price. So, before you go into battle, you better decide how much you're willing to lose._ - **Meredith Grey**

"Anna." The husky whisper penetrated through her disjointed thoughts like a sledge hammer through newly spun gossamer. She sluggishly burrowed further under the covers and pillows, groaning in the process. She kept her eyes glued shut, grasping at the vain hope that whoever was so rudely interrupting her sleep would voluntarily fuck off. And soon.

No such luck.

"Anna." He whispered again. As if it wasn't enough that she could hear his voice, he apparently had to make his presence known through scent as well. Judging by the creak in the door that he was doing a horrible job in negotiating, he had barely crossed the threshold into her room and yet she could smell him right beside her. The smell of old paper, whiskey and leather that held a hint of smoky spice to it was enveloping her. It somehow was able to increase her heart beat and prolong her slumbering mind simultaneously.

If she could bottle it, she would put drug lords out of business everywhere- it was an intriguing idea.

"Anna." His voice cracked somewhat as when he spoke louder. The huskiness would probably dissipate in an hour or two, when he's properly awake. Then it would return to the smooth velvet with a rough edge to it; like a glass of Bailey's on the rocks. She was sure it wouldn't surprise anyone that she could find a way to relate something as mundane as a person's voice to drink- alas; these sultry tones were anything but mundane.

Yet as enticing as his voice was, it didn't change the fact that he has woke her up. Anna didn't like to be woken up- especially after a night of drinking. This basically implied that Anna simply didn't like to be woken up, ever.

"Piss. Off. Sirius." She hoped he would realise that there were three, and not two capitols letters in that sentence.

"I take it you won't be wanting breakfast so then." Due to his husky voice, the chuckle that followed his statement forced him to cough. She sighed and turned further into her pillow, a satisfied smile gracing her face.

It was at this point that she noticed Sirius' scent had returned with a vengeance. With the door creaking and Sirius' lack of stealth, she put two and two together and came to the conclusion that that the source of Sirius' glorious scent funnily enough wasn't actually Sirius (well, at least it wasn't this morning). It was, in fact, her pillow. And the duvet, and the sheets, and in general, the entire left side of her bed.

"Sirius." She all but croaked through her dry throat.

"I'm afraid you're too late now kitten, my generous mood has come to an end. I'm no longer in the mood to serve you breakfast in bed." Even though she had yet to open her eyes, she could clearly visualise the smile reform on his face.

"Sirius, why does my pillow smell like you?" She was in no mood for any witty exchanges at the present moment.

"Because I slept on it last night." His footsteps started coming closer to her bed, and God help her if the piece of toast he was currently chewing didn't reverberate like a rugby team wrestling on gravel.

Her breath caught in her chest for a moment, before last night came crumbling down on her like a tonne of bricks.

"Of course you did."

The image of a drunk and laughing Sirius drudged up from the dank depths of last night's memory. Apparently they did a lot of things last night if her memory served her well. Gladly, she didn't need yesterday's clothes still covering her to deduce that nothing too interesting had transpired. Contrary to her penchant for waking up in random beds, she wasn't you're typical sexual predator that slept with men she barely knew.

Unless the person was devilishly and delectably handsome. And there was an undeniable intense chemistry. And she just realised that Sirius Black was all of those things and more, however, a one night stand he was not.

And please...she was much better than anyone's typical sexual predator.

"How is your head this morning?" She felt the dip in the bed and finally opened her eyes, momentarily blinded by the sun shining in behind Sirius' silhouette- he looked oddly like an angel.

Sometimes life just wasn't fair...it really wasn't.

Not only had they polished off two bottles of whiskey between them last night, she was also pretty sure that an altercation arose in the middle of the night concerning her elbow, his face and the sheets he was stealing. Yet there he sat, as if to sicken her out of sheer spite, immaculately dressed, fully fed and sporting ridiculously rugged good looks and sex hair even when it was wet. And he was fucking thirty eight years old!

Yes, last night had been a very revealing night.

She knew that she was ridiculously good looking all the time also, but at the crack of dawn she wasn't always at her peak.

"I'll get back to you on that one." She pulled the covers up again and dove into his side. When the scent came from him, it was undeniably better- fresh from the source.

"Judging by how far you've burrowed yourself in there, I take it I'll be waiting a while for that then." He laughed softly and placed his arm over her shoulder. He started rubbing his thumb against the skin of her shoulder, where her sleeve had fallen down. Even though she wasn't cold, she felt a warmth spread through her bones with his touch.

"How's your leg?" She didn't know whether she was trying to speak or devour the pillow. Somehow, he understood.

"Perfect. Although if I had made an attempt to leave the room, I don't think I'd have fared so well."

It fell on Sirius' shoulders last night to decide when closing time was. Hence came out her pleas of 'Don't be such a grand dad Sirius'. Being the stubborn little shit that she is, she point blank refused to go to bed without finishing the last drop of the bottle- she was still reaching for it when he hoisted her into a fire man's lift and marched into her room.

Romantically swooning, she was not.

Unfortunately Sirius wasn't quite prepared for the land mines he would have to negotiate to get to her bed. It wasn't so much the clothes as it was the black duffel bags that he wasn't sure what was hidden inside them. Although he wasn't as drunk as she was, he _was_ too drunk to trust her judgement- in all fairness; did he really think she'd just leave explosives lying on the middle of the floor?

She doesn't think she'd laughed as hard all night until he walked into the foot of the bed and fell forward, pinning her to the mattress with his shoulders and roaring a string of curses into the air. Thankfully the alcohol numbed his pain, and it didn't take long for him to see the funny side. She could thank that fit of laughter for her lack of hang over this morning- it was a work out in itself watching him crawl onto the bed whilst trying to avoid her thrashing legs.

"What time is it?" She emerged from the hovel she'd made at Sirius' side after it eventually became too warm underneath all the covers.

"Half past ten." He sighed.

"Well, at least now I know why you're such an early riser." She sat up beside him and snatched the remainder of toast from his grasp.

"And why is that?" He growled through the scathing look.

"You have to get up early to perform your anti aging routine." In an astounding act of maturity, she stuck her tongue out at him before biting into the toast.

When she found out he was thirty eight, she refused to believe it. He claimed ignorance to what anti aging cream was and made her explain it to him. According to Sirius, wizards and witches have a longer life span than muggles. She wasn't yet fully convinced, and decided to bring it up with Dumbledore later.

"Kitten, please; no cream, muggle or magic, could make anyone look this good." He patted her shoulder and threw his legs off the side of the bed. She found herself agreeing with him, but would sit through a maths class before admitting it to him. Not that she knew what a maths class was like, but it seemed horribly boring.

"As much as I do love our little chats that take place right here love, it's time for the grownups to start doing something productive." He reached over and ruffled her hair, amazingly avoiding the tangles and knots along the way.

"How are the grownups planning on entertaining you long enough to keep you out of their way?" She sat up too, finding that she hadn't been entirely successful in removing her jumper last night- whatever logic she had adopted in her drunken stupor, it had somehow made more sense at the time to pull it down her body rather than over her head.

"Keeping an eye on you is entertainment in itself. Now, scuttle along and get yourself ready so we can make it to Dumbledore's office at a semi-decent hour." He hopped up and held a hand out to her until she promptly waved it off.

"Oh you go on ahead without me. Even the mention of that place has just made me feel queasy." She wasn't lying; a massive knot tightened in her stomach out of nowhere and only started to get worse. He was smiling at her remark until she breathed deeply in an attempt to settle her stomach.

"Anna are you alright?" Sirius now wore a concerned expression. It didn't look right on him.

"Yeah I'm fine, probably just got up too fast. Go on, I'll see you in a bit." She waved him out of the room, knowing full well the smile on her face matched his own uneasy one.

* * *

She adjusted the soft leather strap of her watch uneasily _again_. It was now ten to eleven, twenty minutes after Sirius had left and yet she was still plagued by the queasy feeling in her stomach. Her entire body was tense, muscles contracted and ready to spring at any moment.

After her shower, she had dressed quickly and moved toward the window. The cool weather that had been promised finally arrived, and there was a slight bite to the early morning breeze- the heat wave had finally passed. Yet the cold air was doing nothing to calm her nerves. She found herself adjusting her watch just to prevent herself from gripping the window sill too hard. She already scraped the tip of her nail off the hard stone surface twice in an attempt to lean out and get more air.

She could definitely find the change in the weather, having found the previous weeks warmth only mild at best. The nervous twisting of her stomach was making her sweat though, and the loose t-shirt she wore was just about keeping her cool through her frantic pacing.

Thinking back over last night she couldn't find anything amiss that would warrant this nervousness. She had a few drinks and a laugh with Sirius. She checked the tranquilizer gun and found that the sedative was still intact, and hadn't broken or 'ran away'. She had no one to meet, and was wondering if maybe it was the thought of facing another monotonous day in Dumbledore's Office. The restless feeling had haunted her steps all week, perhaps it was just manifesting into something more intense.

When it turned to quarter past eleven and she found herself attempting to tidy the room, she knew it was time to leave. Bite the bullet and all that, if it was the thought of facing the unchanging walls of Hogwarts again then there was no better cure than to walk past them. First of all though, she needed some liquid courage. She couldn't stand being this worked up with nothing to do, and there was no better agent for anaesthetic than alcohol...unless of course in reference to a wound, in which case normal anaesthetic would do.

She was in the process of returning the whiskey bottle when three harried students burst through the portrait hole, tripping over one another in their haste. She knew immediately that the knot in her stomach had something to do with the horrified expressions on the faces of Harry, Hermione and Ron.

"What happened?" She crossed over to them, semi-full hip flask still in hand.

"Ginny's missing." Hermione panted out, clutching at a stitch in her side.

"What do you mean, 'missing'?"

"She wasn't at classes, and when I checked her room she was gone. She's not in the hospital wing either, or the library, or the kitchen." Hermione paused for a moment and straightened. "I think- I think she went into the forest last night."

"What the fuck was she doing in there?" She blurted out, never having been one to be delicate in stressful situations.

"It's- I think she went there for me. It's my birthday on Saturday, and there's this potion I wanted to make but I couldn't get one of the ingredients. It only blooms during the full moon, but when Ginny suggested we go get it in the forest I told her not to be daft- it was only a hair serum for Merlin's sake, it wasn't worth it." Hermione's ramblings were barely translatable. "I think she was trying to surprise me." The emotion in that terrified sentence wasn't'.

"Let me grab some shoes and we'll go and look for her." She ran into her room, rooted out a pair of boots and a leather jacket and closed the door behind her.

"Anna wait, it's not that simple. When everyone was leaving to search the forest I think- well, we have a feeling that they wanted to keep you out of it." Harry was looking at his feet, his expression torn. The poor thing was torn between common sense and loyalty- she was just glad he chose to follow his common sense.

"Seeing as Ron's younger sister is currently missing, I think we'll just ignore their wishes for the moment and pray for their sakes that there is some solid reasoning behind it after we find Ginny. Agreed?" Sharing a quick glance, the trio nodded vigorously."Good."

"Now, seeing as they've already got a head start..." She extended her hands and motioned for them to all clasp onto each other. She had no intention of walking through Hogwarts at a time like this. Harry's perspiring hand had just grasped hers when the portrait hole burst open, almost swinging off its hinges.

"Anna please, I need your help." Arthur Weasley's flushed cheeks were so red it was hard to tell where his hairline ended and his face began.

"I know Arthur; grab Ron's hand we're just on our way to the forest now." She spoke quickly, knowing that the man wouldn't want to waste a moment.

"That's not where they're going to find my daughter. I know who took her." Still panting like he had run a marathon (which the Hogwarts staircases were, in their own right), he moved and placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"We need to act fast; we won't have much time before they realise I've come to you. They don't want you involved because they think this has something to do with Fenrir Greyback." Just the mention of the name was enough to make her blood boil. "But you see, I know it has everything to do with him." Arthur's usually bright eyes turned flat and dark.

"And that's why they don't want me involved." She growled.

"Anna, they're only worried about what might happen to you if you meet him again. He can find you anywhere you go, if they asked you for your help, they'd be asking you to put your life on the line." He said exasperatedly.

"And what about you?" She contested him with a raised brow.

"I know that if I want my daughter back in my arms as soon as possible, you are my best hope. No matter what the means or outcome might be." He closed his eyes and shook his head, turned away for a moment and sighed.

"Explain." She dropped Harry and Hermione's hands, knowing that they wouldn't be having anything to do with what was about to be revealed. No one would, but her.

"A few weeks ago a young and newly turned werewolf showed up at Saint Mungos."

"That's the wizarding hospital." Hermione clarified for her. Arthur hastily continued on.

"He was placed in the ward for the mentally unstable...suffered some trauma. Unfortunately, before they could help him he escaped, but not before the ministry placed a tracking spell on him." Although the thought of tracking a human made her slightly uneasy, she didn't interrupt Arthur's story.

"What with the disarray the Ministry is in recently, everybody has to pull extra weight. The Auror's are run off their feet, so a few of us were assigned to help bring him in. However, somewhere along the line someone high up the food chain found out that the young werewolf was part of Greyback's pack. Instead of bringing him in, it was decided that he should stay there, as a way to keep a watch on Greyback's general whereabouts." Arthur forced the last part of the sentence out, seemingly already anticipating the death glare she gave him. Her fists were clenched and her nails were biting into her skin.

_'It seems that Dumbledore and I need to have a very lengthy fucking chat. For his sake, this had better be the only thing that man is hiding from me.' _Her eyes were narrowed, and she had to force herself not to scream with frustration.

"It's only crossing your mind to divulge this little gem of information now?" She was having trouble speaking through her clenched teeth...in fact; she was more seething than speaking.

"Believe me Anna, if I knew that this is what would have happened I would have gone with you myself to find him! After I discussed it with Dumbledore though, he thought it better to wait until you were more...educated, about werewolves." By this stage Arthur was sweating bullets and his hands were shaking.

_'He thought it better not to divulge that information so that I had to stay here! I should have known there was a reason he was being so kind.'_ She was even more furious with herself for trusting Dumbledore. She was stupid to forget that nothing in this world was free.

When she got the chance to speak to Dumbledore and the rest of 'The Order' later, she would gladly remind them of that fact.

"From now on, all decisions that concern me aren't made until I am informed. Understood?" When everyone in the room nodded at her, she turned to Arthur with a critical stare once more. "And you can tell that to Dumbledore as well." She nodded for him to continue with the story, although she already had a horrible feeling that she knew where it was going.

"Early this morning, the young werewolf was tracked to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest; the opposite side, not the Hogwarts side. Human's wouldn't have a chance of crossing that distance in a night, but last night was a full moon." Silence reigned as everybody realised what implications that had.

Anna had dealt with a werewolf in human form, and she had barely survived. For all they knew, Ginny Weasley could have been bitten, or worse, dead. She could almost feel everyone else's heartbeats stop; it was the same moment that hers did too.

"I'm assuming that you know of some den or nest that Greyback touches base with." It was in moments like this that Anna really shined. When it came to anger and fury, she wasn't too good at bottling up her emotions; but with fear or anxiety...them, she could push right to the back of her mind.

"Yes." Arthur nodded dumbly, and followed her towards her room with the trio trailing along behind them.

She pulled two black rucksacks out from underneath the bed, opening them both and moving items through it while speaking to Arthur. She kept to the point, talking briskly and moving efficiently.

"I'm going to go and draw Greyback out." She pulled out a dagger and strapped it to her right ankle, inside her boot.

"You're going to take this" she handed him the heavier of the two bags" and meet me at this address." She pulled a piece of stationary from the desk and wrote an address down quickly, handing the slip of paper to Arthur. He read it quickly, and dropped it onto her bed.

While Arthur read the note, Harry couldn't help but check inside the back Arthur had dropped at his feet. She didn't have time to acknowledge his worry.

"You want me to meet you in Germany?" She looked up from attaching gun holsters to her thighs and gave him a questioning glance.

"I thought wizards had their own form of transportation?" She took her eyes away from him for a moment to inspect the gun in her hand.

"Yes we do but-"

"And can you travel as far as Germany?" She pushed the cold metal into the holster, glad to have it out of her hands. She really fucking hated guns, but in this situation time was off the essence. The guns would give her the element of surprise with wizards.

"Yes, but-"

"Then stop asking questions and just do as I say." She placed a second gun into the holster on her left thigh and closed the bag up, swinging it onto her shoulder. She had made sure the tranquiliser and the antidote were safely packed- she was going to need them.

"Anna, what exactly are you planning on doing with Greyback when you catch him?" Harry's voice was full of trepidation. One look into his eyes though told him he wouldn't let go until she told him.

"Harry, for your own sake, heed my warning when I tell you that some things you're better off not knowing." She thought the threat in her voice was enough to make him back off, but she could see from his eyes he wouldn't. He was wasting her time, and she was already pissed off. She knew that later on, she would regret what she was about to tell him.

"I'm going to chain him to a chair, and use any means necessary to find out where Ginny is. Then I'm going to find her and bring her back to her family- safe. When that's done, I'm going to go back and get rid of Fenrir Greyback once and for all." She could feel the fire coursing through her veins at the thought of that man. She could see the shock registering on all of their faces when she revealed that she was planning on killing Fenrir Greyback.

"I'm giving you this warning once, should you feel the need to let slip my plans and ensure some useless jail cell punishment for that cretin. If Dumbledore, or Sirius, or Moody or anyone from The Order try to stop me, they will not meet the same person that stands before you." She took a deep breath, still mentally preparing herself for what needed to be done to find Ginny.

She could already hear the screams in her head, and she knew Greyback would be a hard person to break. She despised the man, she knew this was the only way that could save Ginny...and yet she still wondered, was it a good thing that she was so willing to do it?

Better yet, would there ever be forgiveness...for him, or any of the others?

She sighed and turned to Arthur. "If you want to find your daughter, this has to be done." Arthur nodded at her after a moment.

She was back to her militant self.

"I'm going to need a photo of this place." She looked him dead in the eye and knew that had run into their first problem. Everybody stayed silent, Arthur's mouth open like a fish as his brain tried to grasp at ideas.

"Your memories!" Hermione squealed excitedly after what felt like an hour.

Anna didn't bother questioning; she just stopped tapping her foot and looked Hermione in the eye.

"If we get a pensieve then we can use your memories to show Anna Greyback's den." Hermione's face quickly lost its glow. "Of course, the only pensieve I know of is in Dumbledore's Office...and he's not there so we can't exactly ask him..."

Before the sentence was even out of her mouth, Anna gripped Hermione's hand and had Jumped the pair of them straight into the Headmasters Office. She could feel dozens of eyes from the surrounding portraits scrutinising her, but payed them no heed.

"Quickly Hermione." The bushy haired girl was chewing on her lip and wringing her hands. Breaking into the headmaster's office clearly wasn't what she had in mind.

"No Head Girl of my choice would have shown such blatant lack of respect for school rules." She turned to glare at the pompous arse in one of the portraits before diverting her attention to Hermione once more.

"Don't worry, I'll tell Dumbledore I forced you to do it." She waved the portrait and his nodding comrade's off. They were slowing them down.

"I for one will be making sure that Headmaster Dumbledore hears about this." When the portrait opened his mouth again, Hermione was rustling through some cupboard. Her shaking hands were causing all a manner of clinking and tinkling.

"You go ahead and do that, and I'll return the favour by making sure you're screams are heard from the edge of the forest when I set you on fire." She walked up to him and growled in his face, much to the shock and horror of the occupants of other paintings.

He quickly turned away with a 'humph', but kept his mouth shut after that.

By this stage, Hermione was running towards her with some ornamental stone basin in her hands.

"What is that?" She looked disdainfully down at the quirky looking fruit bowl.

"It's a pensieve." Hermione answered brightly.

"Of course it is." Of course an empty basin would be the answer to their problems.

* * *

Hope you guys can forgive the wait...and the shortness :S

Any questions, just drop a review or message me

Shewolf x


	21. Will You Find Yourself Lucky?

Just to be warned, there are scenes of torture in this chapter. I don't think their too extreme, but I'm not everyone...so don't say you weren't warned!

* * *

_The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers **- Carl Jung**_

Upon her arrival to her safe house in Dresden, Anna immediately knew there was something wrong- and it had nothing to do with the temporarily paralysed werewolf she was struggling to hold up.

She kept up a calm and uncaring exterior while chaining Greyback to the chair in her state of the art interrogation room, speaking down to him and taunting him, going the extra mile to aggravate him in his incapacitated state. Just when she none too gently injected the antidote to the sedative in his thick neck, she heard hushed voices from upstairs begin to elevate.

Stepping out of the room and into the cold corridor, she drew the glock from her right leg holster and quietly slipped up the stairs from the basement to the ground floor. Pausing on the top step, she held the gun tightly and placed her ear against the door.

It was old, and rough and in bad repair. The dry wood rubbed harshly against the smooth skin of her ear, but she paid it no attention as she analysed the situation on the opposite side of the door. She knew there were four people standing in the foyer; they were relatively close to each other, and one of them was definitely female. They were also arguing, and didn't seem to be coming to any agreement.

It was unlikely that they were Paladins- they wouldn't be stupid enough to argue, even if they had somehow found the safe house. She entertained the idea that they could be junkies, but quickly dismissed it- junkies wouldn't be able to navigate past the traps set around the exterior of the house.

This led to one last option- they were wizards.

Either Arthur had ratted her out to Dumbledore and they were arguing over what to do when she arrived with Greyback, or...they were friends of Greyback, and were arguing over what to do with Arthur, who should be here by now.

She would gain nothing more from assessing the situation from behind the door; there were four of them, standing approximately in the centre of the room and she had the element of surprise.

Bracing the weight on her left leg, she relished in the freedom of her newly healed right ankle and kicked fiercely through the door. Splinters exploded into the musty and dilapidated foyer, the sound of the bang echoing through the empty house. The arguing came to an immediate halt when Anna burst into the room. A deadlier hush fell over the old house when the occupants of the room recognized each other.

Arthur Weasley immediately lowered his wand...as did Harry, Hermione and Ron. The hand holding her gun was not shaking; it was perfectly still, and trained on Arthur- upon entering the room, she quickly picked out the biggest target.

"What the fuck are you three doing here?" Completely ignoring the frightened and blank stares, she focused her ire on the three students before her. In her anger, she had not yet put her gun away, and was pointing it around in lieu of using her finger. It did not do much to encourage Harry, Hermione or Ron to speak, but it did prevent her from punching a hole in one of the walls.

Such a stress on the fragile upper foundations would most certainly result in the entire three stories collapsing.

"Arthur, why are they here?"

"Well...you see, Anna...the kids, well that is to say Harry-" Arthur's bright blue eyes were shifting between her, the kids and the gun. He eventually became so distracted with being on the opposite end of the gun that he forgot how to speak.

"Actually, you know what, I don't care." Mechanically holstering her gun again, Anna pinched the bridge of her nose and looked at the four people standing in front of her. "Do you have any idea how many insufferable hours you could have added to this process if Greyback heard you arguing?"

"Greyback is here, right now?" A flash of something flashed across Harry Potter's face, and she didn't like the look of it. She decided to address her own angry emotions rather than his though.

God knows she'll have to keep them under wraps during this process.

"Of course he is. I said I'd find him, didn't I?" She glared at each of them individually. "I would have been an hour ago if I didn't need to search his lair." Unfortunately, she couldn't find Ginny Weasley in Greyback's little cabin.

"Now, what the bloody hell are you three doing here?" She hoped they'd be faster at answering this time.

The antidote should nearly have made its way through Greyback's system by now; it wouldn't do him any harm to stew in his own fear for a few minutes. With the amount of chains she had strapped him to the chair with, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"You forgot to bring this."Hermione muttered timidly, holding up the pensieve.

"Of course, the answer to all my problems...a fruit bowl." She sighed in irritation, knowing full well that she wouldn't have gotten far without it. Not unless she wanted to take a trip inside his head, which unfortunately for both of them wasn't much of an option. Much to her disdain, the mutt had to stay alive until Ginny was back at Hogwarts. She was hoping he wouldn't figure this out until she got what she needed out of him.

"Anna..."Ron Weasley began hesitantly, his question wavering under her glare. When she took a breath and relaxed, he felt safe in continuing.

"Where exactly are we?" She could tell by his voice that Ron Weasley wasn't entirely sure in the security the relic that the former industrial Germany offered.

"Back in 1945 when the Allies bombed Dresden, the damage inflicted was so extensive that some repairs are still ongoing. They were practically giving away old workhouses." She gestured to their dilapidated surroundings, where the upper storey was visible through a hole in the ceiling. The only source of light poured in through the gaps in the boarded up windows, adding to the run down atmosphere of the room. She peered through one of the gaps, surveying the silent perimeter. No one ventured toward this region of the city; it was her specific reason for purchasing the place.

There was no one around to hear a person scream.

Reaching above her, she slid one of the wall panels aside to reveal a television screen built into the wall. The live picture feed on the screen changed every few seconds, but all she really wanted to see was Greyback. He appeared to have regained the use of his limbs, and was currently struggling against the chains binding him to the chair.

Hopefully he would be as eager in answering her questions.

"Don't be fooled by appearances." She sighed and slid the panel back over, facing her companions once more. "These upper levels keep up the necessary facade of destitution, but the basement is safer than a Swiss Bank Vault." She pounded the heavy sole of her boot against the floor. If it wasn't supported by reinforced steel, she would have been expecting to here a hollow knock.

"So, this is what's going to happen." She sighed, running a hand through her hair and checking her watch. She was mapping out a time schedule in her mind, speaking to them simultaneously.

"Sending you back to Hogwarts is out of the question; I don't trust Dumbledore not to pull this location out of you if you get caught sneaking back in." She was still angry with the crafty old wizard for deciding not to fill her in on Ginny's absence. She quickly shook free of the thoughts, and resolved to sort out that mess after she got through with this one.

"Instead, you're all going to stay up here and remain absolutely _silent_. When that mutt starts talking, I'll call for Arthur, he can get that silver string from his head and then-"

"Anna, how exactly do you plan on getting Greyback to talk?" She only glared at Arthur in response to him interrupting her. Nothing irritated her more than being interrupted when she was giving orders.

"It doesn't concern you. Now, am I understood?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Got it."

She paused for a moment, and in that moment noticed something that shouldn't have escaped her.

"Where's Harry?" She asked slowly, noticing that the spectacled boy was missing from the room. Judging by the thick layer of dust that lay undisturbed on the staircase, he could only have gotten out one way. Without wasting a moment, she sprinted across the room, through the broken door and bounded down the pristine white corridor that led to the basement. The supreme contrast between the ground floor and the floors above it was almost enough to make someone dizzy.

"WHERE IS SHE?" The roaring coming from the bottom of the corridor informed her that she had indeed located Harry. He was, unfortunately, in the same room as the mutt. He also sounded extremely angry.

Coming to an abrupt halt, she braced her arms on the walls on either side of her and held fast in case Arthur, Ron or Hermione didn't manage to stop on time. When the pounding footsteps halted, she turned around and led them into a room on her right, next door to the one that held Greyback. It too was painted white, its sole piece of furnishing a metal table in the centre of the room.

The room was partially dark, with the only light pouring in through a window that didn't look outside, but actually into the room where Harry was alternating between punching Greyback in the face and roaring at him.

Except that it wasn't a window. It was a two way mirror.

"Stay here and leave the lights off. When Harry comes out, go back upstairs until I call for you. Ok?" The three were gaping into the room, watching Harry's fist pound into the bruising flesh of Greyback's face over and over again.

"Arthur, did you hear me?" She walked over and shook Arthur's shoulders, standing in front of him and drawing their attention to herself.

"Yes, yes I understand. Of course." His stare was still blank, his eyes not properly focused on her.

"Arthur, I'm serious. They cannot see this." The grave look in his blue eyes let her know she was understood.

Pausing outside the room containing Harry and Greyback, she took a deep breath, slipped into the appropriate mentality and made sure there were no cracks in her mask. She slowly strode in with a lazy smile on her face.

"Harry, no. You never start with the head." She drawled lazily, grabbing Harry's wrist before he could inflict anymore damage onto her prisoner. His knuckles would already be bruised enough as it was.

"After a few minutes, when the adrenaline and the endorphins start to rush, the victim can start to feel a little...woozy." She released Harry's hand and started circling slowly around Greyback, like a predator circles its prey, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

"After a few knocks, the person can tend to lose a certain...grip, on the reality of the situation. Pretty soon, they can't even remember why they're here, never mind what question's you're asking them." She spread an evil smile across her face, taking her time in surveying the grease in the matted tangles of his seedy blonde hair.

The only piece of furniture in this room was a chair made entirely of iron that weighed four hundred pounds. It was built feature of the room, attached not to the floor but to a thick curved metal column that stemmed from the back of the chair into the floor. It was a versatile instalment that she felt was well worth its mark's in weight.

"Now a person's fingers on the other hand. They...are a good place to start." She walked around Greyback's side, the smile still fixed on her face as she spoke to Harry. The look in his eyes told her how completely and utterly confused he was by her behaviour.

"Do you know what phalanges are?" She questioned Greyback.

His lips didn't even twitch, not even to release a grunt or growl at her in response to her grin.

"Yeah, I didn't either at one time. I never really was one for school, I never had the time. I was always jumping from one point to another...pardon the pun." She laughed heartily to herself, throwing her head back and then sighing, examining her finger nails before continuing.

There was some dirt under the nails that she would have to clean out later.

"I remember the exact day I found out what phalanges were; it was the same day someone tried to do to me, what I'm about to do to you." The smile dropped from her face for a few seconds, flashing back to another time. Those dark and dank surroundings were a world away from the atmosphere she had created here. The walls here were bright and clean, rather than grimy and wet with condensation. There were no flimsy wooden stools scattered around the room, just one single chair. The floor was solid, and didn't creak when you walked on it.

"You see the human body has ten fingers, well eight really after you exclude the thumbs, but we can forget about them for now, they aren't relevant just yet- Now I see you're anxiety, but don't worry. We'll get back to the question of thumbs very soon." She assured him in a sickly sweet manner, portraying concern and gripping his shoulder tightly. She wanted him to know that she could do whatever she wanted to him, and he had no power to stop her.

"Now where was I? Oh yes, the human body has eight fingers. Each finger is divided into three segments; the first segment, middle segment and base segment." She used her own hand to demonstrate this, pointing out each feature as she went on and speaking like a primary school teacher.

"Now, each segment is controlled by three different joints, commonly known as knuckles, or for someone such as yourself who has just been enlightened on the mechanics of the human finger, otherwise known as...yes, you got it- phalanges." She could see the light dawn in his dark little black eyes the moment he realised what this conversation was building up to.

She took a moment of silence, letting him know she didn't miss the flicker of fear run through him.

"As I was saying, the human body has eight fingers- multiply that by three and you get?...Twenty four!" She wasn't sure yet if he was going to speak until it was forced from him. In truth, she had no desire to hear his gravelly voice unless it was necessary.

"Twenty four tiny little bones control every movement your fingers make...twenty eight if you include thumbs, because they've only got two joints you see." She leaned over his side, her voice turning husky and whispering in his ear. He smelled of sweat, and fear. "That's twenty eight breakable bones in the human body, without even moving past your wrists."

She stood back up and resumed her stalking when she noticed Greyback's attention flare to Harry. The last thing she needed was to have to restrain the teenager in front of her prisoner- dissention in the ranks is not a good message to send.

"Someone told me once, and this is just in passing conversation, that the first phalange- yes, that one there beside your fingernail- I heard that that one is the most painful one to break." Her tone returned to one of normal conversation, catching Harry's gaze over the back of Greyback's head and staring pointedly at him. He tried to mimic her mask, but she could see the fear growing in his eyes.

"Or was it the most difficult one to break?" She turned her gaze away, staring into the mirror and nodding where she knew Arthur had been standing last. It was time for him to get ready to move upstairs.

"I'm going to give you fifteen seconds to tell me what I want to know, before I start using your fingers to jog my memory." She stalked around to Greyback again, leaning over him and staring straight into the empty depths of his eyes.

"I should warn you, before you make any rash decisions, that this door can only be opened from the inside." Silence held while she desperately hoped that the threat alone could force some sort of information from him.

1...2...3...

His nostrils flared as he kept his gaze locked on hers. The whiskers on his upper lip twitched, when he inhaled her scent.

4...5...6...

He struggled against the chains, pushing forward. He moved quickly, but it didn't shock her. She didn't move a muscle.

8...9...10...

His breathing began to pick up, and for a second she thought he was arguing with himself whether or not to crack.

11...12...13...

When she saw him salivating, she knew it was the temptation of her blood that excited him.

14...15...

"Fine then, Harry go outside and shut the door." She stood up and turned to Harry, nodding to the door and moving to the corner of the room. He hesitated, his eyes following her movement.

She bent down in front of a red tool chest and was searching through it.

Finding what she was looking for, she stood up mechanically and walked towards the door. Harry backed out of it, stepping further back from her with every step she took towards him. When she closed the heavy metal door, it wasn't the fear, or the guilt on his face that spoke volumes to her...

It was the concern, spilling from his bright green eyes.

When she turned back to the lecherous beast sitting in the chair, it wasn't with an evil smile; it was with a glare of disgust.

She marched up to him and placed the heavy pliers at the base of his thumb. Without breaking a sweat, she twisted her hand fiercely, ignoring the gut wrenching crunch of bone breaking.

Greyback bit his tongue and grunted, clenching his right hand into a fist.

"Where is Ginny Weasley?" She questioned him, positioning the pliers against the next knuckle.

...

Greyback's growl sent vibrations up her own skin. She stood up in front of him, ignoring the blood pooling down her wrist and looked into his bloodshot eyes.

"Where is Ginny Weasley?"

He remained silent, coughing out a shivering breath from his exerted lungs.

She knelt down once more, this time at his left leg. She ripped up the leg of his trousers and used her dagger to slice cleanly through his Achilles tendon.

This time, he roared.

...

His screams rang through the air, involuntarily slipping through the muscles he lost control of. She turned up the voltage until his screams became so high pitched, she thought the glass would shatter.

She released the jump leads attached to the two metal rods sticking out from his thighs, effectively shutting off her own makeshift electric chair.

"Where is Ginny Weasley?" She repeated for what must have been the hundredth time. She avoided checking her watch, not wanting to Greyback to know that she was becoming impatient.

"You just wait till I get out of this you little bitch, when I get my claws on you I'll- AAAAAAH" She didn't have the patience to listen to his threats, and hooked him up to the car battery again.

...

She walked over the toolbox and dropped the bolt cutters back in. Wiping sweat from her brow, she walked back over to the chair. Raising her booted foot and placing it between Greyback's legs, she gave it a hard push and watched as the chair leaned backwards.

The metal column supporting it lowered into the floor, holding Greyback at a steady angle.

Anna moved to the left, sliding a panel of the wall to the side and pulling a hose and a heavy rag.

She threw the rag over the prisoners face and let him wait in anticipation. Holding his breath wouldn't help him any.

She watched his body thrash and tremble when she turned the hose on and poured water over his face.

...

"Where is Ginny Weasley?"

She raised the hammer, never letting her eyes stray from Greyback's face when she plunged it heavily onto his hand. He brought more pain on himself when he tried to curl his broken fingers into a fist.

"She screamed when we took her." He rasped out, his voice hoarse from shouting and screaming. "She has such a pretty little face...it was such a pity to scar it."

She put the hammer down gently, her head already throbbing from Greyback's screams and taunts. She stood in front of him and pulled her gun from its holster once more, taking aim.

The shot rang out in the room, but wasn't enough to drown out his screams. She thought he was loud before, but when her bullet fired into his kneecap, he wailed. Shivers ran down her spine, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

She gave him a few seconds, his body twitching from left to right and curses flying from his mouth. Saliva dribbled down his chin, falling and staining his tattered shirt.

"You have a chance of walking still with one kneecap_ intact_. Those chances diminish exponentially if I shoot the other one. A wolf that can't run isn't much use to anyone, is he?" She held the gun by her side, the metal cool in her sweating hands.

"We both know...I'm not leaving here...alive. What's...the point...in me telling you..._anything?_" It did amaze her, the way his grin remained evil while he was barely able to speak through his pain.

She remained indifferent to his plight.

"Mobility isn't something that I'd gamble with, but if that's a chance you're willing to take then so be it." She shrugged her shoulders and raised the gun again. She didn't really need that long to aim, but was glad she over exaggerated it when she heard him speak.

"Wait...please, wait." He rasped.

"Where is she?" Anna lowered the gun and stared at his face. It was swollen and bloody, a deep gash above his brow still trickling blood down his chin.

"There's a cottage in Cornwall...near Deer park. The girl's being held in a tent behind that." His head lolled against his chest. She nodded, holstering her gun and pulling the door open.

She marched up the stairs and walked into the foyer.

Ron and Harry sat around a trembling Hermione. They all gasped when they heard her enter, and Anna could tell by the red rims around Hermione's eyes Arthur hadn't followed her instructions.

"You didn't leave the room when I told you to." She stated evenly.

"No, we didn't." Harry didn't look at her when he spoke.

"Where's Arthur?" She asked them, her voice still detached.

"He's gone to get Dumbledore." Ron's voice held a bite fiercer than that of a starved grey wolf.

"Right, well I'm going to need one of you then. He talked." Harry looked up at her quickly, and didn't waste time before gently taking the pensieve from Hermione's shaking hands.

He walked past her and into the room, coming to a stop when he saw Greyback's defeated form.

She nudged him forward, prodding him closer to the prisoner.

"Harry's going to get some...evidence, of your claim." Greyback didn't appear to have the energy to even make a sarcastic comment. His breaths had become shallower since she left him just a few moments ago.

She couldn't bring herself to find fascination in watching a memory being extracted. Harry brought the silver substance into the large basin and let it drop. When he walked over to her, he instructed her to follow his lead as the leant into the bowl.

It was the strangest sensation, moving into someone's memory. Had she not detached herself so completely over the past few hours, she thought that she might have quite liked it.

Now, all she wanted was to end this.

Her eyes immediately drifted to Ginny Weasley, who was chained to a wooden beam in the centre of the room. There were tear tracks running down her face, but she did not appear to be crying. There was a grim determination on her face.

She was strong...she would still be alive.

There was grass beneath her feet, blending with the green cloth of the tent that surrounded them. Outside, she could see the shadows of two men, standing guard at the closed entrance point.

She turned around to see Harry had unconsciously drifted towards Ginny. He was kneeling in front of her, his hand stretching towards her, yet she looked right through him. Then she heard an evil cackle from behind her.

How could she have forgotten...this was Greyback's memory. Of course he would be here.

She quickly turned to find him striding towards her. Before she could move, he walked right through her...it was odd, to be so completely invisible. She found it...liberating.

"Let me see some more of those tears, sweet heart." He dropped his yellow nailed hand at Ginny's cheek, running his claw like nails across her skin. Harry growled and swiped at him, his hand moving right through him.

There were tears in the boy's eyes when she grabbed his elbow.

"Harry, we have to go." She spoke in a flat voice. The look he gave her when he turned to look at her cut right through her.

He gave Ginny one last look, before they pulled back.

Standing in the room with Greyback once more, she moved to the corner of the room and picked up her black rucksack. Both her and Harry exited the room, and she pulled the door closed behind her. She would Jump back in and finished Greyback later.

She grabbed Harry's elbow and was pulling him back upstairs when he grabbed her elbow and pulled her back around.

"You're taking me with you." There were tears in his eyes, and his voice was shaking. It was shaking with anger.

"No, it's too dangerous." She spoke once more in that flat voice that made her heart sink every time she realised it was her own voice. She turned away again, moving towards the steps once more.

This time when Harry grabbed her, he turned her around fully and tried to shove her against the wall. She quickly raised her right arm, knocking Harry's arms to the side and held her left forearm against his throat, pinning him to the opposite wall.

"I don't have time to keep an eye on you." She growled, angry with him for tempting her anger. He didn't realise what sort of fragile state she was in at the moment.

"Who's going to keep an eye on you then? Who's going to make sure that you don't take your own time butchering through the death eaters? I watched you earlier...we all did. You never even flinched!" His eyes were burning into hers.

A cold weight wrapped around her chest, flowing slowly into the pit of her stomach. He was right...she didn't flinch. Not once.

Not when blood splattered across her face, not when Greyback's muscles started to spasm...not even when he shrieked to the high heavens. It just irritated her, because of how long it was taking.

She was growing weary with this place.

"The things happening in your wizarding war aren't oddities of nature. They are facts of life. They have been happening around the globe, for hundreds of years and will keep happening, until this god awful place finally burns to ash. You're wizarding war makes up a miniscule piece of the terror and suffering that occurs in this world on a daily basis...and guess what Harry? It's only going to get worse before it gets better. So I suggest you TOUGHEN UP!" She growled into his face.

She shoved against him and stepped back, fixing her rucksack and pinning him to the wall with her eyes.

"In a few years from now, when you go to bed at night and close your eyes you'll have nightmares. If they consist of what I did to that cretin, in that room, on this day...then consider yourself lucky."

She stormed up the hall without a backwards glance to the shell shocked boy. The busted door that was already hanging off its hinges lay on the ground when she pushed through it.

"Get back to Hogwarts. _Now."_ She growled. She disappeared before them instantly with an unforgiving fire burning from her eyes.

* * *

Thanks for reading everybody. Drop off a review!

Shewolf x


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